Broken Mosaics
by nukerjsr
Summary: At the beginning of the new school year, a student from the music club wishes to join the SOS-Brigade. But when he wonders about it's true purpose and meaning, what will happen to his life, Kyon's, and Haruhi's? Updated, after a very long break.
1. Vital Signs

Hello writers new and old! This has been a scenario that has been tinkering around in my head for a long period of time. And I believe that in such a fascinating series like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, this is the best time to learn about it. I had mixed reactions about the show at first, but soon grew to love it thinking about the complexities and several of the chapters.

Now I will warn you, (you will find out anyway), there's an original character here. However, OCs I think are pretty rare in this fandom. I believe that to be kind of strange considering how episodic the series can be when it isn't focused on the main plot line. This story will also be much different than what some of you may know me for. I got some of my inspirations from looking through several of the long stories in the section, so I hope that this story does them justice!

Please Enjoy! And just like with fansubs...italics = thought.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa. I own no property aside from this story and the original character.

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**Chapter 1: Vital Signs**

_What defines a person as weird?_

_During my days of being a student of North High, I've often pondered the question to myself. The term is quite generic really. It's too flexible since completely different people can be called that word. A person with a Master's Degree or someone who refused to go to high school is peculiar or strange in their own way. Etymology was nothing I never really knew about, so it's hard to tell how such a word became common in every day use._

_Perhaps I should ask Nagato about the topic. With her powers as an alien and her thirst for knowledge, I see no reason why she wouldn't know._

_Either way, it's still a mystery. Though I've been wondering lately if such a term applies to me. Nothing much has happened over the past couple of weeks since the second semester of school had started. As expected, we've already been bombarded with test preparation as some of the upperclassmen would warn. It feels as if I've become a whole different person since when I first came to High School. Instead of longing to do regular activities, I'm far more interested in something actually happening. Something non-threatening would be great, but beggars can't be choosers._

_As usual though, I wasn't the only one seeking for a bit of stimulation._

"Man..." Haruhi groaned aloud in the tiny, shack of a clubroom. "I figured with the new school year and a whole new influx of students, we would have loads of new things to research! But everything's just as mundane as usual!"

_A typical response from Haruhi, our brigade captain who happens to be the literal center of the universe. It's a bit amazing how someone so important to the future of humanity is considered weird by all of our peers. Well...maybe not that surprising. Even prime ministers and such were considered anti-social. But it's this type of behavior that worries me. It's that level of weirdness that tends to drive people away. Lately, things haven't been too serious to the previous issues I've had to deal with. You can't really take your eyes off her for a second though._

"Perhaps we should try covering the city once again." Koizumi suggested. "It's been a very long period of time since the last time we did that."

_I'd rather not deal with such a problem, Koizumi. Usually that tends to lead to more frustration than solving them. I'd prefer that he would serve a purpose rather than be that Mysterious Transfer Student. The chance of me having a good time whenever we separated would be slim. Either there would be a hyperactive Haruhi that would force me to do work or one of you guys would give me a monologue about coming storm. It's a little contradictive that I would say such a thing, but I do grow weary of playing Othello and Dragon All Stars all the time. Maybe I should start fiddling around with those laptops we snagged._

"We never had any luck from dealing with that." Haruhi said. "Sometimes I never get what I want when I try things like that."

"It never hurts to try, chief." Koizumi said with his ever present smile.

_My hopes are dashed, yet again. She takes the approval of the smiling "yes" man as motivation. I don't really know much about Koizumi since Haruhi just brought him to all of our attention one day. It would have been nice to know what the rest of the student body thought about him. Without a doubt, they most likely saw him as weird too. The kind of person who gives support without question usually is an oddball. Even as an esper, I question his abilities. I wish at times he had the powers of a more traditional esper and could tell me what exactly our leader was thinking. But then again, it's Haruhi who views those kinds of people as defenders of the mind._

"Um...here's your tea." Mikuru squeaked as she poured into a series of small, blue cups. Kyon stayed focused on staring into space as he reached for his cup. He took a deep sip of the piping hot tea, which suddenly got his attention. There was something different about it, but a very pleasing change.

"Did you change this Asahina-san?" He asking, raising a brow. "Tastes a little different."

"Y-yes." She stammered as she gave cups to Itsuki and Haruhi. "I decided that today we should try off something different than my normal green tea, so I added in some orange zest."

"I see..." Kyon nodded.

"Do you not like it?" She worried.

"No, no...It's good. I like this." Kyon gave her a small smile, cheering her up immensely.

"It's okay I suppose." Haruhi said blandly. Kyon took another relaxing sip as he once again moved on into thought.

_Ah, Asahina Mikuru. I've been confused over her existence since the very beginning. A time traveler who isn't allowed to say what she's seen in the future. Her more...advanced form may still drop by to tell me a cryptic message but who really knows. Her main power boils down to the amount of tolerance and punishment she can take. _

_...I should rephrase that. Anyway, I still have to care for her when it comes to Haruhi. I'm starting to question if she made the right decision choosing her as our mascot._

_After seeing her wander around in that puffy, frilly, blue and white maid costume, I get the feeling we are giving out the wrong message. From a nurse outfit to a bunny suit, I feel like more people should be talking to me about what club really does. It's surprising that no one has told me that I'm lucky or how beautiful Mikuru is. Moe appeal is nice and all, but that's all it really is. If she's considered weird though, I wouldn't know. No one has really considered it. Then again, I only talk to about four girls in the school. Makes me think, I haven't talked with Taniguchi or Kunikida in a while, maybe I should ask for their opinions on things. _

_I don't think I would want to be on the level of anti-social that Haruhi used to be._

The leader of the brigade sharpened her brow as she looked through the club's website. The counter went up, sure, but that little function means nothing if there are no comments or critiques left off. She checked the inbox specially linked to the website...completely empty. Haruhi sighed as she let her head sink into her palm. It was this repetitive feeling that made the room turn cold.

"People still haven't reported about strange things that have occurred...why must they ignore us!?"

_Lucky for us, that isn't our only source of information._

"Perhaps we should reach out into the community with a new angle." Koizumi stated, giving Kyon a wide grin.

_There's no need to hint it to me._ "Yeah, maybe we should try to talk to some of the underclassmen."

"I'll get the bunny suit!" Haruhi said shooting up from her desk. Mikuru made a series of whimpers knowing she'd have to change clothes again.

"Not like that. Last time, they reported you." Kyon remembered.

Haruhi made a sneer from the response. It wouldn't be effective if the heads of the school got in the way of her trying to increase the popularity of the club. "Like it really matters. If the rules weren't so idiotic, then we could do whatever we feel like. Who cares if the school's image is tarnished, will anyone really care?" She sat down, with her legs crossed.

"We can just post flyers across the school. Make them come to us. That's how most students get interested in the clubs."

"But that's so boring!" Haruhi shouted while moving to a cup of tea. "The type of person who should join our brigade should not do it just because a piece of paper told them to. Anyone who does join has to have the need to search out for the paranormal!"

_Of course, like everyone else who joined._ "Still, it's not bad or anything."

"Miss Suzumiya clearly does not care for such methods, Kyon." Koizumi said.

"Thank you, Vice Captain." She grinned, then moving her attention to Kyon. "Such statements will get you further in life." Kyon moved back to his cup of tea, not to let the only other guy in the room's ego rub off on him. Still, the subject remained that everything was still rather slow today. She looked around at everyone trying to get another idea. "Yuki, you do a lot of reading. Can you think of some way we can reach out to the student body?"

The former meganekko kept her attention on the book, moving only slightly to turn the page. "No."

_Now, someone like Nagato would easily be called weird by anyone in her age group. However, if they did learn about her powers to bend reality, their mood would quickly change. Still I do get confused by her from time to time. Whether or not she is the closest thing to a more realistic form of god, it's hard to figure out her true power. Anyone you knew who could instantly fix a classroom without batting a lash would be like a superhero. _

_You can't help but find her interesting though. With all the computer data in her head, I do wonder what she's capable of knowing or doing. I know for a fact that she is capable of feelings, so she still appears as a wild card in any situation. ...The only card in our situation really, due to Koizumi's and Mikuru's limitations. _

"Humph." Haruhi said with loudly. "Well, we need to do something. I get tired sitting around in this room all day, you know!"

_Perhaps she should join us when we play our board games. But then again, it's very possible that the board might fly to the ground and we'll have to pick up the pieces._

"Would you like to play a game?" Koizumi offered.

"Course not." She said. "The SOS Brigade should be playing something more interesting the mere board games! Besides, I've watched you played Othello so often then I could easily whip you both at the same time."

"That's true." The esper shrugged off.

_Oh no, I know this scenario. The mood is so thick you'd have to use a steak knife to chop through it. Looks like something better happen before I enter into a world of grey._

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Unbeknownst to the SOS Brigade, a teenaged boy was waiting outside of the door. His hand was placed against the wall as he began to pant heavily by the translucent window. His eyes were blinking, his heart was throbbing, and his other hand was clutched onto his chest. Right outside of their door would be one of the several life changing events that the club had endured. The only thing slowing him down was his waning sense of confidence.

_**Ok...you can do this. You've been planning for this for a long time.**_

The student thought as he tried to relax. He stood promptly, feeling his forehead and moving his hand around his face.

_**I'm a third year now. Can't hold it off any longer. It's best to do it now when the homework load isn't so bad.**_

He streaked his fingers all throughout his hair. It was short in the front, covering his forehead in a typical spiky format, while in the back, it reached down to his neck. What was so distinct about this look were his dangling sideburns which came down to the middle of his jaw line. They were more attached to his hair rather than his face. After that little check, he checked his breath.

_**Breath is fine. Doesn't reek or anything. Hair isn't messy. I had been waiting for a while for it to grow, so I could get it cut just like this. Wish I had a mirror.**_

Just as he was about to reach for the knob, he immediately turned away. His back pressed against the wall as he started to think through this. The student rubbed his head, trying to remember some key components about this club before he would have the nerve to talk about it.

_**This is the club that people try to forget about at school. A group that is so random and so different compared to everything else that people come to a silence at its mention. The SOS Brigade. I don't know if the silence comes from fear or bewilderment or respect, but it exists. Some people classify them as unnatural. Then again, isn't everyone? Still...I wish I could know more about them. That's what any good interviewee does before going to the actual job interview.**_

_**I only know of two of their members. There's the chief, Suzumiya Haruhi, who has boundless amounts of energy and critique to give. How someone could contain all that in a small room such as this feels strange. I do however respect her for incredible singing talent. The other member of course, is my classmate Asahina Mikuru. The perfect girl who was snatched away from us one day and has been moving in and out of the classroom since. Several people are too shy to learn what exactly happened to her.**_

_**But that's what I'm going to do. **_

_**Even though that's not my primary concern for joining this establishment. No, my eyes are set on a much bigger goal. A goal that every man wishes to achieve. **_

_**Just need that spark to talk to them. My wavelength has to be on that as the brigade leader's. It's a bit crazy that I have to be so honest, but...I have to do this.**_

The kid stood up with his body straightened out. He rolled his neck and loosened his muscles as he stood in front of the door. His head bopped back in forth as he prepared his mind for the situation. He started to think of a powerful rap melody he heard on an anime the aired not too long ago, about overcoming all odds. Doing whatever you think you can. He took a deep breath, placing his hand once again on the knob.

The door flew open, nearly causing a gust of wind to shoot through the room. Everyone, with the exception of Yuki, blinked from the response of seeing a brand new figure standing in the door. It was a moment to savor, since Haruhi would usually be the only person who would enter into the room with admirable gusto. He spoke quite brief as he looked at the entire room.

"Hello there!" He greeted. _**Is this everyone? Could have sworn there would be more.**_

"Perfect Timing!" Haruhi cheered as she flew up from her desk. She immediately pointed at the boy with new shimmering new hope. "What_'_s your name?!"

"You may refer to me as Yamada Norio!"

_Well, this is new..._

"Haven't had someone come in a while." The chief mumbled as she walked around her side of the room with enthusiasm. "I have a few quick questions to ask you!"

"What's that?" He asked.

"Are you an alien?"

"No." Norio said. _**Ok...this is off.**_

"Are you a time traveler?"

"No…"

Haruhi's excitement felt a bit diminished. "Are you an esper?"

"Nope."

_Ok, we've got to the point. But, naturally, something has to be off about him. For one, his hair looks quite strange to be a man's. I can't tell if it's connected on there or if it's going to fly off and hit me._

"Are you any kind of supernatural person?"

"Well, no not really." Norio denounced.

Haruhi pressed her fingers in between her nose. "Have you experienced anything strange occurrences in the last few days?"

"Other than school starting, no."

"Can you do anything really well?!" Haruhi said, bored at this moment.

"Well, I can sing."

The leader chuckled from that comment. "Anyone can sing, you know that right?"

"I can at a professional level, you could say." _**Well yeah, any one can sing. But most people are tone-deaf or only have the courage to stand in front of a microphone after having a few.**_

Haruhi simply sighed as she stood back down in her chief's chair, looking out the window at the sky. "Be gone then."

"What?!" He screamed. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

_She wanted something new, but I suppose if he gets dismissed then I can't really argue. Kind of funny, I always expected a slider to come around here sometime. Is this going to be him?  
_

"I have no interest in humans! You can only be of service to me if you had some kind of power." She smirked.

_**Damn, I can't leave now.**_ "Well, are the people around you aliens? Do you happen to be friends with any superheroes in this club?"

"These are my subordinates! You can't be a successful leader without a group of minions following your orders! We have our lolita mascot, our mysterious transfer student, and our emotional-less bookworm! All we need now are some real extraterrestrials!"

_And…I'm the dog. __I need to start paying attention more. If I start to get bored then clearly something will have to happen. Quite a twist this time though. Someone really wants to join though. I guess if he does join though, what will this Yamada be? Another me or just another puppet for niche appeal?_

"I just have one mere request." Norio said.

"What's that?"

Without warning, the student immediately dropped himself to the floor. He was on his knees with his palms against the ground and spread far apart. His head bowed as he spoke with compassion.

"Please, allow me to join the SOS Brigade!"

Those words echoed true to everyone in the room. No hesitation or sarcasm in his voice, this felt like a real matter. Itsuki and Mikuru looked down to him as he was on his knees. Even Nagato showed some interest, tilting her head, but still keeping her book open. Kyon rested his head on his hand, observing the student. He didn't appear very different or very suspicious, but it was hard to tell with the way his life was going.

"Tell me then." Haruhi said bluntly. Unlike everyone else, she looked at her fingernails to make sure there weren't any flaws. "If you can't really support the true meaning of the SOS Brigade, then why exactly would someone like you want to join? Is there a higher calling to you rather than searching for what's truly fun and interesting?"

_**Snippy little thing, isn't she?**_ "No...I have no problems in doing what you want me to. If you want me to search for what is truly fun in the world, then I will do it!"

_How did Haruhi miss this guy? Feels like he would be the perfect subject for voluntary arrest._

"Hehehe...fun little way there to dodge my question. I have to give you credit that you are very willing to do what I want. Even from my most trusting members, I don't get that. My point still stands though. Why do you want to join my club?"

"Simple." He said. With a quick tightening of his fingers, he responded in a powerful answer. "Love."

_**There. Now I've said it. Perhaps I'll be lucky and she'll be the romantic type. She will understand what angle I'm coming from. Wow...has my heart ever gone this fast?**_

Unlike what he would have performed, Haruhi reacted with a series of laughter. "Love?! That's why you want to join?! You wish to find love?!"

"Yes..." He responded. _**Not good.**_

"How silly humans are. Love isn't something worth looking for. Something that's portrayed in the media so often isn't worth looking into! Especially since it has the uncanny side effect of making people act like complete morons!"

"It can be the best feeling in the whole world!" Norio defended. "It's unexpected...that's what makes it great. Potent as well."

"That's a different answer than what I expected." She shrugged.

_**I don't want to be denied like this. Oh well...just need to keep my cool.**_

"Am I still allowed to join?" He quivered.

Haruhi sighed as she looked off into the distance. "We could use an errand boy around here I suppose. If we need you to do some kind of odd job, we'll just call on you, and you'll do it." She gained a newly found smile as she stared down at him. "Are you up for such a position?"

_Well that settles that. Another me. How fun…but this is probably going to lead up to a moment where he'll pull me out of the club room and take me to a taxi._

"I'll do it!" He immediately responded. His pose changed from begging to gratitude with his legs now together and his back up right. He locked his hands together as he started bowing up and down. "Thank you Suzumiya-san!"

"There's just one little condition." The chief said while wagging her finger.

"What's that?"

"Do you happen to belong to any clubs?"

"Well...yeah. I'm a member of the music club."

She grinned. "Then you'll have to drop that. Being a member of the SOS Brigade requires a full time commitment! If you have any plans on spreading excitement across the world, then you can't let anything get in your way!"

Just as Kyon was going to forget about Haruhi's serious demands, he noticed something a bit off with the student before him. In a bit of a flash, he noticed that his hands came apart and formed into fists. His once exuberant face shifted from discomfort. As quickly as it occurred though, he responded to her in a plain voice.

"Fine."

"Perfect!" Haruhi cheered. "Your enrollment begins as soon as possible, right after you drop your club! Do that right now to prove your worth!"

"Sure, Suzumiya-san." He smiled.

As quickly as that, he had left the clubroom to wonder down to the music department. Kyon thought deeply to himself as he moved onto his tea. While Haruhi acted a bit erratic over the fact a new member was to join, everyone else acted quite normally. Koizumi kept on his ever present smile while Yuki had her full attention focused on the novel she was reading. Asahina went back to her duties as a maid as she readied some tea for the new member. He laid his head on the table, while thinking about this random occurrence.

_That was new. Someone who has the means of joining the Brigade. Not looking for help. Not someone who was dragged away. A person who actually has the means of working an assistant for a simple reason. I suppose if there could be something unexpected happening, that would be it. As for what he is, I can't tell. Haruhi could have been bored and popped him up just a few minutes ago. He could be a slider explaining to me the importance I am to parallel dimensions. Maybe he was just a bored student. Japan has a pretty grueling education system. That could be it. _

_Nah...Probably not. With my luck, he can probably control the world in a way. Who knows? Either way, something will happen. At least I can get a new partner to play Othello with._

With Kyon's thoughts in check, he returned back to his normal tasks for the day. Which were of doing nothing aside from enjoying Mikuru's tea. Outside of the room of the former Literature Club, a distraught Norio was marching through the hall. Getting into a club that quickly couldn't come without its price. With that hurdle passed, a new one had appeared before him. His brain slowly rocked and reminisced about what he had done up to this point.

**_I was not expecting that. Why do I have to quit another club to do this? I know clubs can be tough but...they only do things about once a month at best. This is going to be difficult to get through this the way I want to._**

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Here we go...starting off a brand new series. I am very curious to see what you all think about it, farther down the line. Thanks again to my proofreaders. I'm also debating a bit on what the sub-genre should be. Hard choice between suspense and romance.

One last note, the chapter titles do have a recurring theme. If you know me, you'll probably figure out what it is. But each title really gives a suggestion about how the mood for the chapter can be seen.

Please Review! Feel free to be crucial, I am very focused on the storyline with this.


	2. Perfect Situation

Here's Chapter 2 for you all. I'm going to be a bit more laid back with this story than my last one, because I don't want to feel stressed. This doesn't mean I will update slowly, but I'm going to be less critical on this one. It should still get done fairly faster though, there will be less chapters than the last story.

I'd like to wish you all, Merry Christmas or any other holiday you may be celebrating. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. (Which needs to move to Season 2 already. I love Churuya, but you can't delay it forever.) Remember, Italics = Thought. (I apologize for the wall of black you will encounter)

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**Chapter 2: Lounge Act**

A student crept along the top floor of North High School in the city of Nishinomiya in the prefecture of Hyōgo. After finally experiencing the character of Suzumiya Haruhi for the first time, Yamada felt skeptical from her request to quit a club in order to join another. While it was true, that most school clubs demanded a lot of dedication and support, most of them didn't have harsh requirements. The SOS-Brigade in particular didn't have a goal, participating in baseball to music to creating fanservice films.

Norio slowly walked down the flights of stairs to the music room in deep thought. Each time he came across one positive of joining the Brigade, he reached another negative. He would occasionally stop at each floor to work out a speech to talk with his fellow music members. It's difficult to choose between old friendships versus new opportunity. He snapped his fingers, reaching to an unorthodox decision. The student reached the bottom floor, starting the long walk to his friends. To suppress the noise, the music room was placed in a building away from the school.

_**I suppose things will have to go that way if I'm able to join the SOS Brigade without any consequences. I'm not going ask what Suzumiya-san has against people who don't mind that challenge of going to two clubs at once, but oh well. Either way, I can't stand for it. The music club isn't going to like what I have to tell them, but hopefully they'll be in a calm set of mind. **_

_**Its lunch time anyway, they'll be calmer on a full stomach. I'll just have to hope for the best. My best friends are fickle though. We act a bit like a dysfunctional family considering how much time we spend together and how often we spend time in the music room. I don't really care for school. The only classes I've focused on are with Humanities, Foreign Language or Public Analysis. Those are the kinds of people who get ahead in life. The kinds who can talk to you in any situation.**_

_**Hopefully all of those notes I've kept from those classes have stuck in my head. I'm going to have to hear just about every complaint in the book from those four. I'm being stupid, I'm making the wrong decision...the list goes on. Love will just have to be my biggest selling point. Everyone yearns for it after all. And I only have one last year to make this work.**_

_**This is where I should just make it public then...I'm in a band. A simple, five-person heavy metal band with a whole lot of heart and determination. If it were just a normal choir or something, don't you think I wouldn't have such a dilemma?**_

_**No no, not that inane screaming music that sounds like demolition derby on fire with thousands of rioting chain-smokers. You know, the stuff where it is a requirement for every sentence to be about mutilation, death, blood, sadness, or rape. Just good old fashioned heavy metal that was prominent in the past two decades. I can't stand that stuff or when people have to refer to all metal as that garbage.**_

_**It's just a matter of easing the issue over with all of my band mates. Bands are one thing, love is another. However, I can't drop either. I'll have to be a bit conniving if I want to keep both my friendship and my shot for romance. It's a bit selfish, but I can't help it...she's just so dear to me. It just deals with how I talk with each member. **_

The teenager stood in front of the door of the building adjacent from the high school. Just like a few minutes ago, he was a bit nervous having to deal with unexpected conflict. Along with that, he didn't want to have to worry about the threat of flying chairs. Things were actually rather smooth for the band. Ever since Wrathchild's entry, they have been focused and at the top of their game. Without a singer...things would be off.

He took a breath before opening the door. Norio looked around, seeing that everything was quiet. The large room was barren for the most part, with the exception of four students sitting in the corner at a table. Without hesitation, he moved swiftly to the group in a casual manner. He regretted wolfing down his food before talking to the brigade. If he came with a bento, he would mold into the scenery much better. But that was a risk he had to take.

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"Good to see you Norio." A muscular, bald student greeted, standing away from his chair. The two of them gave each other a high five as Norio walked towards the rest of the group.

**_Ayase Daiki is my best friend in this entire solar system. Since we were kids, we've known nearly everything about each other. We talked about music and still continue to talk day after day. He'll understand it without a doubt. He's devoted towards the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, where love was a common topic in most songs. Mostly bad relationships, but he knows. That's what a bassist does; he molds to the rhythm and keeps things together. It's just a shame so many people in the genre look down on them. _****_I know it's a bit strange for a Japanese student to care so much about foreign music, but that's just how metal is. Japan isn't as commonly known for heavy metal compared to Europe or the Americas._**

"How have things been?"

"Okay I suppose." He nodded, pulling up a chair. "School sucks."

"Indeed." A tall, bispectacle teenager nodded, pressing his glasses against his face.

"It's only one more year, Masato. " Norio shrugged off. "Then we can do whatever we really feel like."

**_Saji Masato is as we refer to a "dueling" guitarist and our money supply. You need money to help start any kind of foundation in this day and age. But Masato's a great guy...he's just been eerily quiet lately. Odd things have just been happening since the last school semester ended. I guess it's good for me then that a quiet statement translates automatically into approval. The one positive about his brooding attitude though is that his guitar has never sounded smoother. He's clearly the type of metal guy interested in the progressive, five-minute long wankery fest but he really has a love for the genre and becoming the best instrumentalist possible. _**

"It's going to be a long year though." Daiki stated. "Plus we have all of our events. Entrance exams, midterms, the athletics festival..."

"The cultural festival and all of that annoying crap..." A scraggly, short girl stated bluntly, putting a prawn in her mouth

**_Now Wrathchild...that's another story._**

**_I know it's odd that I do not her real name, but she demands us all to refer to her as Wrathchild. She's our other dueling guitarist. Where she is the fire, Masato is the ice. The music she's really into reflects on her personality. Abrasive, blatant, direct, all of the elements of a hardcore thrash fan. She's not bad though, she can be accepting or nice in those rare moments. She's the wildcard in this situation. But I suppose that's due to her background, which I heard was pretty rough. _**

**_She's the newest member of our band, Unstability. Like the name? Yeah, I enjoyed coming up with that one. I wanted to think of a name that would be good for chanting. Try it out._**

**_Anyway, I still remember the day she came up to us wanting to join. She said her name, displayed her Stratocaster, and then told us that we would die if we touched it. Then she proceeded to blow our minds away by playing one of her favorite solos._**

"Now is in fact the best time to work on band related projects, since this is when the teachers will be the most lenient." Daiki concluded.

"For once, they aren't bombarding us with moronic tests." A shorter member of the group said, his black mop nearly covering his eyes.

**_That just leaves the last member, our drummer, Fukuzawa Tetsu. I don't know that much about him really. He is however very different than the stereotype of most rock drummers. His grades are phenomenal for one. But lately, he's been in a bit of rut. With the recent death of Munetaka-sama, he's been a lot more irritable.  
_**

**_I wasn't lying to Suzumiya-san when I said that singing was my talent. I just hope now through that all my years of practicing and memorization haven't gone to waste. Fame can wait...the problem with love is that you have to treat it opportunistically. It's the beginning of school year anyway; I'll most be able to find a decision. Thank goodness that the school festival is around the end of the year._**

"Yeah..." Norio said, his mouth feeling particularly tight.

"Something wrong, Norio?" Masato asked.

_**I was hoping we wouldn't jump on this so soon...**_

"There is." He said. "I've been thinking a lot lately."

"About what?" The lone girl of the group said.

"You guys know about that girl I like, right?"

"Right. Sure. Uh-huh." Several of the men responded.

"I'm thinking about getting closer to her."

"Good for you." Daiki said, patting his friend on the back. "If you are finally going to man up and try to make a relationship, then I'm going to give you my full support."

"There's just a little problem." Norio began. "Like any good relationship, I have to be there with her. These things rely on compromise and sacrifice. So it'll be hard to balance things out."

That statement started to make the air feel incredibly thick. A few of the members looked down at their bentos while others were making nasty scowls from the reaction. No one was really going to be pleased with any more words. It sounded like the speech one would receive before getting fired from a corporation. The singer felt a bit uneasy, moving two fingers around one of the dangly parts of his hair.

"You aren't thinking of..." Masato said, adjusting his glasses. "Doing anything drastic, are you?"

Norio scratched the back of his head while trying to make a smile. "Of course not. When it comes down to these things...you really have to look at what's important."

"And that means us." Wrathchild bluntly said while pointing her chopsticks.

"Girlfriends usually don't help your friends out..." Daiki thought. He preferred not to speak to keep from upsetting his friend.

"I love the band, is it just a problem wanting something more?" Norio pleaded.

"There's a difference between a need and a want. Do you think this woman is more important than everything else?" Masato dared.

"I'm confused here." Tetsu groaned as he put his hand on the table. "Are you going to leave the band or not?"

There was a brief pause before Norio said anything. They cut to the chase rather quickly. He continued to play with his hair. "No."

Masato looked away from him. "I don't see why you need to worry us like that."

"It's complicated..." He said, causing a series of sighs to come from the rest of his band mates. _**Perhaps I'm being just a little too civil.**_

Wrathchild pounded against the table with her fist. "Why are you trying to screw with our heads, Norio? And even if you are not leaving the band, why would you want to pursue another girl in the first place? It's these kinds of thoughts that ruin people's lives!"

"So you aren't leaving?" Daiki said with a bit of hope.

"Of course not." Norio said. "I just need to give off an illusion that I have left."

"Why would you need to do that?" Tetsu questioned.

"The club I have to join has a requirement of dropping any current clubs. Clearly, it's a dumb rule. But if the president comes along, you have to act like I did leave the music club."

"And this club is?" The male guitarist asked.

"The SOS Brigade."

The air became heavy once again, like adding flour to dessert recipe. Compared to any other club at the school, that group had created a reputation. Maybe not the best reputation, but it remained more popular than anything else. Everyone looked with a bit of confusion.

"That's the only way you can get closer to this girl?" Daiki stated.

"Sadly, yes. I've known her for a while, but that's the only school based activity I know that she does." Norio said.

"I don't get that Suzumiya Haruhi." Wrathchild said. "Why would such a talented singer waste all of that potential to search for aliens, time travelers, sliders and espers? Those things don't exist! What is she, stupid?"

"I have no idea." Their singer responded. "Maybe I can rekindle some of that passion she may have for music."

"That would definitely be a service to the school." Masato exhaled. "Anything to stop all those random activities and the exploitation of Asahina-san."

"So you guys don't have a problem with me going to find this girl?"

"You just don't spend any extra time with that freak show." Their female guitarist demanded. "You get the job done then leave."

"All I'm asking is that you don't forget about us, Norio." Daiki said. "Considering the way the band works and our situation, you can try to do something big since we have this free time. If you spend hours with her everyday, then it can't take too long to make a confession. And she knows you, it's not like it would be a major shocker."

_**Don't say it like that...**_

"Still, we can be fine without you. This would be a good time to create some instrumental tracks. Isn't that how you get most of your ideas anyway? We do some instrumental work and the lyrics just come to you?"

"Yeah."

"We'll be fine." He nodded.

"You do what you wish." Masato smiled. "Good luck."

"Keep it short, okay?" Tetsu grinned. "We don't want you to turn into an outcast like anyone else in that group. Take care of yourself."

"Thanks guys." Norio commented, overwhelmed by his friends.

"Don't act like this is special treatment." Wrathchild said, looking away. "This is just a formality, after all."

The newest member of the SOS brigade made a sigh of relief knowing he would have some time to work things out. Everyone else returned to eating lunch, even if they were curious to know what was going on in the singer's head. Some were displeased, while the others were interested. Either way the outcome would affect them greatly as every major musical group has had their run-ins with romance.

* * *

On a different level of the school, a particular brunette was humming happily as she was looking over her club room. This was the first inductee the SOS-Brigade had in a long while. She felt like it would be appropriate to give a new member the right introduction. Nothing much had changed, but the room felt much more inviting than ever. Haruhi stood triumphantly as she waited for the door to open.

_She's in high spirits today._

"Everything is set up!" Haruhi shouted while crossing her arms. She looked to her underlings with a grin. "Koizumi, is everyone in position?"

"Of course, Suzumiya-san." He said.

_It looks like nothing changed at all. I had move around some chairs, but that's about it. She did however make Nagato and Asahina sit in different places. Not sure what she has planned for that. _

_Still, I can't help but think about what that boy will do. Yamada Norio...he didn't act suspicious and he didn't look suspicious. Begging is odd but I'm pretty sure that does not affiliate to a moé archetype. I could ask Koizumi for answers. Then again, he's going to just tell me that I'm the most important student in Japan. I might be a bit sour, but when you have experienced as much as I have, then you don't get surprised by much anymore. At least psychologically...it would be nice to see a caped crusader just fly across the skies just because he can. Not because of some deep, long-winded speech about science and history._

_Hey, he could fly. That'd be kind of fun...though he couldn't do it very often. Nagato could probably fly too, just insert an angelic pair of wings on her back and go off. If only I could get a miracle without it getting a lot of questions or giving Haruhi some kind of hare-brained scheme._

"He needs to get here already..." Haruhi said. "If he doesn't get here fast enough, all of the enthusiasm will be gone. Might be in for a penalty if he takes too long."

"How do you suppose we give him a penalty if we aren't looking for things in the city?" Kyon asked.

"Oh that's easy. Drinks, labor, entertainment, there are several forms of punishment worth giving. It's not rocket science to think of these things, Kyon." Haruhi stated.

Kyon looked away while Mikuru tried to give innocent answer. "I wouldn't mind getting some help preparing things for the club room. I have been learning how to cook more lately."

_Ah...her cuteness always seems to amaze me._

"We could always get some appliances from the cooking club." Koizumi stated.

"Oooh, that's a brilliant idea! We can force him to get us things for the room! A tea set is nice but we could always use more to fuel the effort in finding the supernatural."

_And another wallet falls into the SOS Pool. Haruhi appointed herself as treasurer so she does keep records of everything we could need for the room. The website actually has a list of items requested by the SOS Brigade, but it's so long and pointless that is strains the eyes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that installing a stove or even a hotplate or toaster oven is some kind of violation of the fire code._

At that moment, the door slowly opened with the turn of a knob. To the bewilderment of Kyon and excitement of Haruhi, there stood Norio looking rather relaxed. He stretched his neck as he looked around the room. Haruhi immediately went into his line of sight.

"So?"

"I quit the music club." He nodded.

_Huh...I expected that to take time. But then again, I don't know about Asahina-san's time at the Calligraphy Club so I could be wrong._

"Excellent!" Haruhi smiled.

Without warning she grabbed Norio by his uniform and brought him into the room. She pushed him against the wall as she went towards the table. Mikuru teared up as she was also picked up by her uniform, ready for introduction. Kyon looked with regular discontent while the newest member looked completely blank as to what was about to happen. Koizumi and Yuki were also in their normal stances.

"Yamada Norio, you are now in for the ride of your life as you are now a member of the SOS Brigade!" She pointed at him with whip-like speed. "From here on out your goal in life is to make the world more fun by assisting us in our duty to spread the world with excitement with me as your guide!"

_This feels rather...formal._ _Doesn't look like he is understanding a thing._

"Could you tell me about your associates?" Norio asked.

"That's what I was planning to do!" Haruhi said.

Without warning she placed both her hands on Mikuru's shoulders and pushed her forward. She looked at the inductee with her round, glimmering eyes, very uncertain about what was going on. The esper went along with the charade, standing proudly from his chair. Haruhi gained a bit of an evil look on her face, looking over the two senior students.

"I'll start by getting you excited for your new life in the brigade by having you look at our mascot, Mikuru-chan."

"Uh..." The girl trembled. "It's nice to meet you..."

"Be more enthusiastic Mikuru-chan!"

With that statement, Haruhi did something that anyone would find crazy. Perhaps not for someone like Kyon but...for those who had a strong sense of ethics. She grabbed onto the gentle Mikuru's breasts without a care. A piercing scream quickly followed with the shocked face of Norio. He was a little disturbed but it felt a bit stranger that no one seemed to care. He raised his index finger to make a statement he should have stated earlier.

"I do know who Mikuru-san is."

"Oh, you do?" Haruhi had while keeping her smirk. "You probably don't know everything about our little mascot. Oh, where are my manners, you are a guest! Would you like to feel them?"

The lolita girl panicked as she looked at Norio with a deep gaze. He was about to say something, but then he made slowly tilted his head at Kyon.

"Am I allowed to?" Norio suggested.

_Oh dear, she's getting physical now._ Kyon just shook his head towards the boy. He took his advised but still couldn't keep his eyes away from the spectacle.

"Anyway, I should get moving along." Haruhi said as she let go. Mikuru quickly huddled away from her, getting closer to Norio. He watched the chief with new-found concern as he started to play with his hair again. She pointed at the two men on the table. "This is our second in command. Basically, if you have any questions to ask, you can just bug this guy until he gives you an answer."

"Itsuki Koizumi." He bowed. "It's a pleasure."

"Nice to meet you." Norio responded. "Is he just to act like a guide?"

"Of course not! Koizumi here was a mysterious transfer student last year who basically popped out of thin air! You have to keep an eye on him because he could be capable of anything."

"You should definitely pay attention to that last part." The esper smiled.

_Haruhi, it'd be nice to know why exactly a new student is so intriguing. If you think about it, we have plenty of students coming in every year from many different parts of the prefecture. It's not like there's anything that makes him special._

"Which now leads us to our silent bibliophile and self-taught technical expert who is over there in the corner!" The genki girl pointed out.

Yuki turned to Haruhi's voice, looking at the new boy. She quickly analyzed him over, making a few blinks at him before speaking. "Nagato Yuki."

"Well, that's good to know. Sometimes I have trouble dealing with certain music software." Norio admitted. "What about that guy over there?"

"Oh, that's just Kyon." Haruhi shrugged. "You don't really need to know anything about him. All he is is a worker, like you."

_That's very pleasant for the first member who was voluntarily arrested for the SOS Brigade. Not to mention that I could basically change your entire world if I really wanted to. I should really be used to this kind of treatment but it still annoys me to no end. A thank you would be nice now and again._

Norio moved his way to a chair, next to Kyon. With a closer view, he smiled at the stack of unused laptops...a perfect accessory for the artist in need. His thoughts on the club changed constantly with the tea set, the frightened Mikuru, the quiet Nagato, and the ever smiling Koizumi. Haruhi looked on at the new member with a high level of glee and delight. All of the possibilities...an amazing talent? A hidden secret? A worker who will not complain? Haruhi moved in front of everyone as she bellowed her happiness.

"So Yamada...you will enjoy your time here, won't you?"

"I believe I will." He nodded. The others made approving gestures, with the only exception as Kyon. Kyon looked on a bit confused at him. Whatever his purpose would be in the club...no one would know.

_Here we go. As odd as this new member may be, he seems nice. Almost like Koizumi if...you know, he were human. It doesn't appear like he wants to start anything. Maybe he does want to find love. Or he could use that as an excuse of some sort. That wouldn't be a big surprise. But either way there is one thing I hope for with this new change. _

_That this time, it won't be so life threatening._

* * *

It may feel a little slow now, but the things shall rise in the next few chapters. You figure out the trend yet? Nah...too soon. But I hope you all will like this new story.

Oh yeah, points to any of you who can name off some of the musicians.

Please Review!


	3. She Sells Sanctuary

Hey everyone, sorry for the late new chapter. It's important to have proof-readers, so I can provide you all the best reading experience I can. If it's one issue I think everyone of us can have with reading a fanfiction story, is if it's poorly edited.

So please, enjoy. ^_^

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

To get things straight, Kyon's thoughts are in regular italics, while Norio's are in bold italics. Just to seperate between the two.

* * *

**Chapter 3: She Sells Sanctuary **

It had been merely a week since the induction of the newest member of the SOS Brigade. Even with this major change, it didn't take long for a simplistic atmosphere to return to the club room. It just had one additional person. Kyon could notice the difference, sitting right next to the kid, but he could adjust to that. Unlike Koizumi, he didn't have the need to gaze upon him with a very thin smile.

Norio, the so-called "former" member of the music club, would usually play with one of the laptops or rest his head. His proclamations earlier didn't seem to reflect on his true personality. Kyon mostly noticed how he would sigh and gaze at the door; a trait commonly performed by the club leader. Diving into cyberspace seemed to be the most common time-waster.

Kyon felt a bit perplexed by the situation. He listened carefully to the door and window openings. Everything sounded just the same as it did a week ago. He moved his eyes across the room, with Mikuru still in her maid uniform and Yuki still looking into a new book. Kyon returned his attention to the chess game he and Itsuki were engaged in. But he just couldn't get something off of his mind.

_Something feels...off here._

_While I expected something big to happen with the new inductee, Yamada-san, nothing has. He hasn't really done anything other than sit here and listen to music. It's hard to tell if he's truly seeking love or if he's the missing piece to our club of supernatural beings. He's gone along with our latest coup to gather appliances from the cooking club, but that's all that has happened this week._

_I should explain. Around the second day that Yamada was here, we went to the cooking club to get some new materials. Haruhi loved the idea of cooking in the room so much that she wanted to get appliances. That way we can spend forever in here! Thank goodness we don't have a stove. Either way, before we got there, we made a startling discovery. That the cooking club actually has a female majority, therefore making it hard to blackmail._

_At least, so I thought._

_The female mind turns out to be as exploitable as the male. It just requires appeal in a completely different function. Haruhi demanded that Norio were to stand in front of everyone and sing to them while we swiped the appliances. He denied, declaring that the act would sully his reputation. Lucky for him, being an esper requires a compliance chip to be surgically implanted into your brain._

_So while Koizumi ended up distracting them, everyone took an item from the cabinets of the computer club. Our spoils included a food processor, rice cooker, and a slow cooker. So I suppose we could have a simple vegetarian lunch. Hopefully the computer club won't hear us making anything. But enough of our thieving escapades._

_Norio still leaves me rather confused. He's had little to say since he has been here. I'm wondering if that whole speech about love was a clever ruse or not. He hasn't been very motivated to do anything; while on the other hand, he hasn't pulled me aside to tell me he's a slider or something. It's a positive, but I'm expecting something to come along with him._

_I mean, Why not? The Jenga structure that is my life could easily take another block on the top. Even if that does mean that one will have to be removed from my body. I wouldn't really be stressed if more pressure was put on me. I really have enough to topple any world leader. They have the advantage of not working with teenagers. _

"It's your move." Koizumi reminded.

"Huh?" Kyon said startled. "Oh, ok."

Kyon moved one of his pawns forward. He preferred to keep these intellectual battles short. _I just hope that whatever the crazy truth is with Yamada, it's something that's a bit simple._

Norio tilted his head as he glimpsed at the chess board. With the faint movements and frequent, intellectual breaks, he couldn't understand why they were so interested in playing. Rather than doing something productive, everyone seemed to prefer to play games. He sat up, looking at Mikuru preparing another set of tea. She looked rather pleased in her position too. The musician looked away at her, pressing his hand against the dangly part of his hair.

_**This is so boring.**_

_**Nothing has really happened other than that lousy fiasco with the cooking club. Honestly, what was Suzumiya thinking stealing things from other students? It's not hard to actually buy something. A Food Processor is expensive, but isn't really a necessity. I could tell after leaving that room that it was a big mistake.**_

_**Someone probably noticed us. Ugh...I don't want those rumors to spread. I don't want the idea of me being a thief to ruin my reputation. And along with that, I'll have to deal with the burning stares by the staff and students. Not something I really want to deal with. Kind of ironic, because being in a metal band, having a bad reputation is something you would want.**_

_**However, bad publicity doesn't lead to a happy love life. That's what I really desire. Even if you know someone for a long period of time, that relationship can all change in an instant. It must really suck to experience something like that. It's those kinds of mistakes that I have to avoid. I just need to relax and hope for the best.**_

_**...That's becoming quite difficult.**_

_**There's something very off-putting about this room. Their goal is to spread excitement throughout the world, yet the club hasn't really done anything exciting. I mean, it could be surprising to see your cooking appliances stolen, but that wouldn't make you happy. You'd get rather pissed off if someone stole something. But, it's not really the mood that's the most odd.**_

_**It's the people. No one appears to care that Suzumiya stole all those items. They all feel so...superficial. Koizumi always appears to be smiling. Is that normal? Nagato always has her nose in some kind of book and doesn't like to talk. While not a threatening problem, it's still something worth noticing. Don't ask me about Suzumiya either. She's like a light switch. On and off all week long.**_

_**But, this whole experience isn't terrible. I can see Kyon as a friend. He seems to be a bit like me, constantly skeptical about this whole situation. He has been here longer though, so he might just be used to this kind of boredom. I have bonded nicely with Mikuru-san. I suppose it's nice for her to talk with someone in her class. Everyone is an underclassman. **_

_**Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Sitting around here waiting for something to happen is what makes this place so boring in the first place. Even though it's not what I expected, I should get to know more of my club members. I was hoping to be done with this by the week, but stuff happens. Or more of, nothing happens. Better start a conversation.**_

Norio stood from his chair and moved across the room. He took a glance at the chess board to see who was winning...it looked pretty even for the most part. Very typical, as it seemed like Kyon and Koizumi didn't care much about playing games in the first place. Haruhi was still set in front of her computer and Mikuru was still tending to her tea. He placed himself next to Yuki who was looking at a rather thick story. He tilted his head down, trying to read some of the words.

"So...is it a nice story?" The singer awkwardly stated.

"...Quaint."

He fiddled with his hair, hoping for something. "What's it about?"

"Vikings." She flatly stated.

"Really?" Norio thought. He didn't know much about them, aside from dabbling in Viking Metal.

"Yes."

"Are they killing or pillaging or drinking...?" He rambled.

"Sailing under the decision of an opposing force."

_**She talks rather strangely...**_

"Oi, Norio." Haruhi sharply said. "Don't talk with her. She reads books all the time for a reason."

_Actually, I don't know if she does. Being a member of the Data Entity, she probably knows about everything about anything in the known universe. Does she read fictional stories out of boredom or something so people will not bother her? It's a hard call..._

"Sorry, Suzumiya-san." Norio said. "Sometimes I need a break from the computer and there's nothing to do."

"Tell me about it." She rolled her eyes. "But, I don't think you should worry."

"Why's that?"

"Well...not to brag, but I have been thinking about a new project. I'm not one hundred percent sure on what I want to go with, but I just need someone to discuss ideas with."

"D-did you feel uncomfortable talking with us?" Mikuru said, hoping such a response wouldn't result in punishment.

"Of course!" She said. "I can't rely on you guys all the time for new ideas! We would be up to our ears in projects if you all suggested something once in a while."

_We do suggest things, but you always denounce them as boring or pointless. And we aren't usually for them because they involve breaking some moral code_.

"This time I had to invite a third party." Haruhi grinned.

"Who?" Kyon asked.

"Ya-ho!" A voice shouted.

The door busted open causing everyone's head to turn, with the exception of Nagato. Haruhi eagerly hopped up from her chair to talk to the guest that was here. Said guest stood in front of everyone in a very proud pose, looking at the maid in the room. She immediately burst out into laughter as her hair shook around, nearly touching the wall.

"Harunyan's still got you wearin' the maid costume eh, Mikuru-chan?"

Mikuru addressed her, just as surprised as the others. "Tsuruya-san..."

"I see Miss Suzumiya has decided to talk to someone at her own wavelength." Koizumi commented.

"Glad you're here!" Haruhi said walking up to the upperclassmen. "I've been thinking about this new idea for a while now and I was thinking of you for as the main attraction. Mikuru is great and all, but we all know that the same thing grows stale after a while."

Tsuruya giggled. "That's true. Happens a lot."

_This is new. Usually she'll pop in on her own accord, but I guess she'll also play a role with this new escapade. Just what I wonder this time is how will..._

Kyon train of thought suddenly halted as he looked at the Norio. His hand was completely covering his mouth at the sight of the green-haired student. His eyes started to roll around. While the two genki girls were talking to each other, Kyon looked back and forth between the girls and the boy. He looked carefully at the boy's face as his eyes started to tremble. It was something very typical that he saw in the media.

_**There she is...**_

_I wonder why he's staring at her like that..._

Tsuruya took notice to the newest member in the room. "Oh, did Nori-kun join you guys?"

Haruhi smiled at the recently acquired student. "Yeah, Norio joined us about a week ago. But I'm curious about how he'll help during this whole big thing."

She looked a little concerned at the boy, but still kept her sunny mood. "Nori-kun, are you ok? Looks like you have a cold." She immediately started laughing at a particular thought. "If you are, don't try to infect Nagato-chi!"

"What?!" He said startled. He quickly scratched the back of his head. "No, I'm fine."

_**I am now. Waiting a week for this moment was worth it. You aren't gone...I'm so glad you are here.**_

Koizumi slanted his eyes upon seeing Norio at his more vulnerable moment. He grinned to himself as he looked at Kyon. To him, there was now something more interesting than a game of chess. Kyon looked back at Itsuki a bit disturbed.

_Ugh, don't stare at me like that. It irritates me to no end when you look at me that way. Feels like you know something I don't._

"Now!" Haruhi said invigorated. She made a close up towards Mikuru, who was already in fear of whatever was going on in Haruhi's mind. "The key towards this plan revolves around one thing!"

_Breasts?_

"What's that?" Itsuki questioned.

"Visualization!"

"Oh no..." Mikuru muttered.

"Gentlemen!" She stated towards her male troops. "We shall unveil our plan in a few minutes, so please get out of the room!" She slanted her eyes towards the time traveler. "And that involves creative thinking..."

"Um, if you need to change clothing, can't you go to the bathroom?" Norio suggested. "There's one not far from here."

"Nori-kun." Tsuruya said ever softly. Yamada freaked out once again from her remark. "Even though we could go to the bathroom, it's megas easier to do it heres!"

"That's right!" Haruhi backed her up. "And someone like you shouldn't argue against the rules of the SOS Brigade!"

"You get it, nyoro?"

Despite the fact that he had a valid argument for relocation, Norio held back his tongue. Tsuruya had a sparkle in her eyes from this whole project. No point in having that go away.

"Okay then." He nodded.

The three men walked out of the room at that moment with Kyon a bit confused over what had transpired. Once they left, the three of them aptly waited right outside of the door. Norio quickly felt guilty as Asahina's whimpers could be heard through the room. He looked at the two senior members with a bit of regret.

"Does this happen a lot?"

"More than you think." Kyon sighed, thinking about the last time he questioned Haruhi's rule on undressing in the clubroom.

"I'm actually concerned with how you know Tsuruya-san." Itsuki stated.

"I need to know. Is she a member?" Norio quickly asked.

"It's hard to explain really." The esper continued. "While she isn't an official member, she does help us out with our schemes from time to time. I guess you could say she's an honorary member."

"I see..." The singer said with a bit of disappointment. "I saw her and these two other guys in that movie you guys made."

"That's Taniguchi and Kunikida." Kyon said. "To be honest, I'm not proud of that movie but we somehow got people to help out."

"I knew Tsuruya was Mikuru-san's friend, but I was just concerned over the matter if she would leave class like Mikuru did."

"Well, now my interest is really piqued." Koizumi smiled. "What is your history with Tsuruya-san?"

Norio averted his eyes from the two of them. He felt a bit flustered having to explain his story. He started to twirl around part of his hair, trying to recall everything about the classroom.

"It was about..." He initiated.

_Please don't say it..._

"I believe, two years ago."

_Wow...something new._

* * *

_**Two years ago when I attended North High, I didn't think much of it. There wasn't much that distinguished it from many other schools. Back then, the idea of joining the music club and hoping for something big was just a pipe dream. In our classroom, I had the advantage of sitting next to my friend, Ayase Daiki. Then we went through introductions.**_

_**To the side of me was the Asahina Mikuru that the whole school appears to know and love. She was rather friendly, but cute to an insanely high degree. So much so that I think it scares people and it makes it hard to approach her. It was a bit strange that she was timid and soft-spoken, but she happened to be a very nice person, so I didn't mind. **_

_**Then we went through my row. After I finished introducing myself, people were in complete silence to the next person in line. Once I turned around to look at her...I could see why everyone else was surprised. Most of us couldn't really figure out what she was saying about herself, we were much more interested in her physical features.**_

_**Her hair was incredibly long. I worried that when she sat down that her hair would touch the floor and get dirty or stepped on. She didn't have it tied up very often. It looked like it was naturally pulled back though as her hair never covered her forehead. When she was talking, I had a clear view of small fang that poked from her mouth. The only thing I could really remember from what she said from that odd little speech...**_

_**Was that her name was Tsuruya.**_

_**I guess I was at a bit of an advantage where I was sitting since she was a close friend of Mikuru's. So she would keep her guard down around a lot of us. The days went by very smoothly around the four of us. The two girls never knew about our aspirations, but they supported them nonetheless. You could say I was very lucky to be surrounded by such people.**_

_Lucky indeed..._

_**Halfway through our semester, we got reassigned to new chairs. I still got to be with Daiki, but Tsuruya and Mikuru were now at different sides of the room. School moved then from pleasant to just...okay. It felt like there was a spark missing. I was quickly reminded of that one day when I heard the green-haired girl laughing across the room. **_

_**One day, not too long since our recent change, I forgot what our homework was. My best friend was sick, so I couldn't really ask him for help. It's a good thing her hair is so long because that way I can spot her anywhere. I was able to catch her before she went off into the city.**_

"Tsuruya-san!" Norio called as he ran out of the school.

She paused for a brief moment before she turned around. "Norio-san."

"I need to ask." He huffed. "What was our homework in math today?"

"Uh..." She thought. "I believes it problems 1 to 20 on page 212."

"Thank you. Glad I was able to catch you."

"I see." She said.

"Is something wrong?" Norio said. "You seem a little less lively."

"No...It's not something big."

"Would you like to talk about it over ice cream?" He suggested.

"I'd rather not talk about it." She dismissed.

"How about free ice cream then?"

She closed her eyes for a second, to restrain her laugh. She nodded and accepted the request.

_**I suppose I was just saying the right things that day. So we went off into the city to get our ice cream and talk. **_

"It's kind of silly." Tsuruya murmured. "Do you think there's anything wrong with my appearance Norio-san?"

He immediately took his attention off of his frozen treat. "No, of course not."

"This annoying girl I have to sit next to now kept bugging me about my looks. My hair and my forehead to be exact...and she thinks I talk weird. Do I talks strangely, nyoro?"

"I don't think so. In fact, I would say that those kinds of things make you..." He turned away from her. "Kind of...cute."

_**When I slipped out those words she wrapped herself around me. It was that particular kind of hug, the one where it isn't expected and there's a lot of force behind it. **_

"Thank you, Norio-san!" She said gratefully.

"I don't mean to be rude, but...could you stop hugging me now?" Norio said, newly embarrassed.

"Why's that?"

She let go, giving him the opportunity to turn around. The chocolate ice cream that he just bought was mostly smeared across his face. He had an irritated scowl as he held the cone with discontent. He knew he should have gotten a napkin. Tsuruya exploded with laughter as Norio's eye was covered in chocolate. As she pointed at him, he felt a bit more relieved seeing her smile.

* * *

"That was just the confidence booster that she needed. I'll never forget that moment. I figured that I would always be Tsuruya's friend even if we got separated like what happened in class."

Back to reality, Kyon and Koizumi were fairly interested in Norio's story. It wasn't something overly complex like what they were used to. It was fairly simple, and refreshingly human.

"That's very nice, Yamada-san." Itsuki said. "I was always curious to learn things about her, but I never knew that. I guess there still are surprises left to uncover."

_Wait a minute...he doesn't know anything about Tsuruya-san? I guess there are some things that I'll need to learn about Norio before jumping to conclusions. _

"I can see why you would want to join the brigade then if you like hanging out with Tsuruya-san. My social life hasn't been too good either since being recruited either."

"As long as things stay this way, I'll be happy." Norio said.

"We're ready!" Haruhi shouted from the doors.

The boys stretched as they returned into the clubroom. Haruhi and Tsuruya looked very pleased as Mikuru unveiled herself from the rack of costumes. Kyon and Norio were astonished while Koizumi remained unfazed as always. The time traveler looked at bit nervous at everyone as she didn't enjoy wearing this particular outfit. Its shocking pink color and the attention it focused on the chest made things much more bothersome than what she already had to deal with. The club leader stood by her in pride.

"From this day forward, we shall be working on sequel to The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina!"

_Oh no...Not this again._

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Were any of you suspecting someone else aside from the main five? But, I hope you all liked it nonetheless.

Please Review!


	4. Behind Blue Eyes

I apologize for this chapter being a bit delayed, but it happens. Sometimes you concentrate so hard on a scene that you have trouble working out the dialogue. That's what happened here for me, because you could say this is the first chapter where things start to really pick up.

Hope you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story. (And be sure to see Churuya and Haruhi-Chan on the Internet Soon!)

Remember: Kyon's thoughts are like _this_, while Norio's thoughts are like _**this**_.

* * *

Kyon nodded off to sleep in his regular chair after finishing his lunch. Listening to the club's ravings, laughs, cries, and compliments, he needed time for himself. The best way for a man in his situation to do that was drift to into his own sub-consciousness. Even with the minor changes that were made to the brigade in a short period of time, he needed a break from it all.

Hearing those words..."The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina" were enough to make his skin crawl. He was hoping the Director's Cut DVD shot during that rainy day would be the last he would hear of that movie. With all the problems that occurred during the first movie, who knows what was to happen this time? Either way, he needed time to prepare to go through it again. Or at least he hoped.

"Kyon-kun! Kyon-kun!" A voice echoed.

"Tsuruya, allow me. Wake up!" Haruhi shouted.

The brigade leader smashed her hand on the table, next to Kyon's hair. His neck promptly shot upwards, as he looked around the room with shaky eyes. He adjusted his sights on an irritated Haruhi, followed by a giggling Tsuruya and upset-looking Mikuru. Kyon put his head against hand as he leaned against the table.

_I guess a nap was too much to ask._

"Kyon, this is not the time for slacking off!" Haruhi said.

"I really needed a nap." He groaned.

"I expect more from my brigade members."

"Don't worry, Suzumiya-san." Koizumi chimed in. "I can pick up Kyon's work if he desires a break."

"Either way," Haruhi shrugged as she walked to the center of the club room. "To create the sequel to The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina, we have to think about any opportunities we can take advantage of. Is there any local event coming up? Something where we can get equipment or publicity?"

"There is going to be a talent show in a few weeks. The grand prize for the winner will be 10,000 yen." Itsuki informed.

Kyon shot the other male teenager in the room a glare. _Don't make this harder than it already is..._

"That's perfect!" Haruhi cheered. "Our DVD sales for the first movie were pretty good, but a live performance would be incredible! We should video tape our performance so they can see us in a raw, pure form!"

"Pure?" Mikuru worried.

"We may have to tone down a few things if we were to perform it live." Kyon reminded.

_That's the one thing I did kind of enjoy about the film. At least less of this moé-exploitation would make it easier on Asahina-san. A fair trade off, I suppose. This won't be easy though. Good thing that the only thing I would have to do is narrate - And keep Haruhi in line._

"Oh, those are just formalities." The brigade chief rolled her eyes. "If dangerous stunts can be performed, a little bit of playful fun will not be a big deal."

"Will I...will I have to do anything different, will I?" Mikuru stammered, trying not to say the wrong words.

"Don't worry, Mikuru-chan!" Tsuruya wrapped her arms around her friend. "I know a few things on plays, its megas simple! Just remembering some lines and getting used to the public looking at you. And you are used to that, aren't you, nyoro?"

"I am."

"It'll just be like filming the first movie." Kyon reassured. "Probably less pressuring though, since we only have to practice."

"I see..." Asahina started to smile.

"But don't forget!" Haruhi pointed at her. "You are the center of all this, so you cannot screw up!"

"Y-yes!" She cowered.

_This could be less painless than the movie. We can practice in here and not have to deal with distractions. And it's not like Haruhi can run in and drag Asahina-san off the stage when it's show time. She wouldn't try anything like that...would she? No no no, that would cost her. Despite the fact that the hard-earned prize money is already in the bag. But I guess it comes down to the script Haruhi comes up with._

"Since we have that handled, we can now focus on the script." Haruhi stated. "I feel a bit skeptical with you all when it comes to my plans. Feels like you will just follow me without question."

_Damn, she found us out._

"So this time, we will make it a poll!"

"A poll, eh?" Tsuruya grinned.

"Of course! Mikuru is a time-traveler in this series, right? We should have her go to more time-specific destinations than a Japanese High School! Think of the possibilities, the plot turns, the characters! The clothing..."

_Hmm...Asahina-san in a miko outfit..._

"Oy, don't think of anything now!" Haruhi said, noticing Kyon's brief pause.

"Well, what types of time periods would you suggest?"

"I'm thinking something maybe in space. Something in the future with aliens would fit rather nicely with Yuki as the villain. Oooh, Yuki clones! Imagine that!"

"That's pretty creative, Suzumiya-san." Itsuki said. "But how would you suppose we would do something like that?"

"I'd have to look it up, but I'm pretty sure it involves something with a projector! If we do that, you be sure to help us out, okay Yuki?"

"Understood." She responded.

"Any more ideas?" Tsuruya curiously asked.

"Something like the Middle Ages would work really nicely too. That's a common staple whenever time travel is involved." Haruhi nodded.

"That is true." Koizumi said. "Many series have used that time period as a reference for just about everything from fighting to myths to heroic characters."

"Exactly." The brigade leader pointed out. "This is why we have to come to a vote. Who all is in favor of a space theme?"

Haruhi, Koizumi, and Yuki raised there hands thusly from the response. She shifted her eyes across the room at the non-voters.

"All those for a medieval theme?"

Kyon sheepishly raised his hand, followed by Tsuruya and Mikuru. The teenager slanted his eyes at the only other male in the room. Koizumi looked at him with a bit of discontent. He simply shrugged at him while he tilted his head back at Haruhi.

_I know, I could go along with the center of the universe with her plans, but this time she is giving us some flexibility. It's best to go with something simpler. With Haruhi's obsession for the paranormal, her space plot would be so convoluted that it would rival even the most insane writer. Not to mention the super skimpy outfits she would make everyone wear. They are tempting, but it's better this way to keep Asahina-san happy. Tsuruya-san too, but I don't really know her opinion on cosplay._

"A tie, eh?" Haruhi said. "How do we find an answer?" She blinked, noticing something was very off from the room. "Wait a minute..."

_You just figured it out?_

"Where is Norio!?" She demanded.

Her calmer voice soon returned to its sharpened state. She looked at everyone in the room, leaving the boys perplexed and Mikuru worried that she would take out her aggression on her. Tsuruya quickly raised up her hand to speak.

"Nori-kun is off seeing his friend from the music club."

"What?! I told him to quit!"

"Err..." Tsuruya scratched her face.

* * *

About twenty minutes ago, Norio and Tsuruya left their fourth period class. They were prepared to go to the brigade today, primarily to meet up with Mikuru who was there all day. The two felt a bit more comfortable going into the clubroom now. When you want to catch up with old friends, you need to stay attached. Tsuruya took notice to a rectangular box Norio was carrying along with his bento.

"Anything planned today, Nori-kun?" Tsuruya asked.

"Yep! Today is Tetsu's birthday!" He enthusiastically said.

"Ooh!" She said, surprised. "I'll need to wish that to him, nyoro."

"The main problem is that he and most of my other friends are still in the music club."

"Ah, and Harunyan is pressing down on ya with those rules?"

"Yeah. It's a bit of a pain, but I don't want to abandon my friends."

Tsuruya laughed, with her inappropriate timing. "I completely get it! Mikuru-chan still talks about the calligraphy club from time to time."

"So would you mind doing me a favor?" Norio asked.

"Sure!"

"Don't tell Suzumiya-san about me going to the music club. It would only shake things up."

"Okays!" She waved, as the two dispersed.

* * *

"Oopsie..." Tsuruya scratched her cheek. "I wasn't supposed to tell you alls, nyoro."

"Well, we need to find him! Where is the music club!?" Haruhi demanded.

_Haven't you gone there before?_

Yuki suddenly brought herself to everyone's attention. "The destination to the music clubroom approximately 12.4 meters north-northeast in an adjacent building from our current location."

"You heard her! Let's get going!"

As Haruhi stormed out of the clubroom, everyone slowly followed. Tsuruya felt a little guilty seeing what happened, but she closely followed. Koizumi was also a bit eager to see what was about to happen, as well as Yuki, who continued to walk while gazing at her book. Kyon sighed as he walked out with a frightened Mikuru following him. She hoped that not too many people would see her in her puffy maid uniform while most students were on their lunch beak.

_It begins..._

* * *

As an impending doom was encroaching towards the music room, the unsuspecting band was having a good time celebrating their drummer's birthday. The other four circled around Tetsu as he was tweaking his new drum set. It was missing some key components, but getting new materials are still nice. Norio looked over at his present on the table, as Daiki was presenting his friend with his own birthday gift.

**_This is nice. It's been too long since I've spent time with these guys. We need to discuss new ideas for songs and lyrics. I still keep up with them even though I can't spend time with them in school. But on a day like this, I need to be with my friends. I'm really curious to see what they have planned. And with Tetsu's new drum kit, we should have a louder, rawer sound. _**

Masato inspected over the new snares and tom-toms that surrounded the drummer. "Do you like this Tetsu? You prefer Pearl right?"

"Yep!" He smiled. "Those are just the kind that Munetaka-sama used. Are you sure you want to spend this much?"

"The happiness of one member affects everyone." The guitarist said.

"That's the truth." Norio said, entering the conversation.

"Speaking of which, are you feeling good today? Daiki asked.

"I'm feeling pretty good." Norio said. "Turns out that my dream girl is a member of the brigade after all."

"Yeah, It would suck if you joined and it turned out that Tsuruya-san wasn't there." The bassist nodded.

_**It's a good thing that wasn't the truth.**_

"That club really shouldn't use you every day." Masato said. "We've accomplished a good amount of stuff while you were gone. You need to listen to some of our samples or you'll fall behind."

"That's right." Daiki recalled. "You need to sneak away from them more often just so you can hear our newest sounds."

"Especially on a day like this!" The drummer said. "Which reminds me..." He turned his head to the one girl in the room. "Wrathchild, did you get me anything today?"

"Oh, Tetsu..." She spoke slowly. She made a light stride to her band mate as he sat their perplexed. "I got you the most metal gift imaginable."

"What's that?"

The dueling guitarist took a deep breath, right before she made an angry face. "Nothing!!!!"

Her booming voice echoed throughout the room. Tetsu was taken back by her bluntness. He almost quivered knowing he wasn't going to receive anything on a day like this. The others looked on in intrigue as they examined her closely. Norio made a bit of smile, almost forgetting Wrathchild's attitude around people.

"Just kidding." She stuck her tongue out, pulling out a present from behind her back.

He smiled gleefully as he opened up the present. It turned out to be a nice, long Zildjian crash cymbal. The two band mates made a strong handshake as they added another piece to the instrument. The other three went back to talking about some newer riffs and lyrics that they had invented. While he was talking to them, Norio felt very relieved compared to how he was the rest of the week.

_**Feels nice to have a meaningful conversation for once. It's way more lively here than in this SOS Brigade. Every other club I know appears to do more activity than Haruhi's group. Everyone freely talks about things on their mind in other clubs. Yet it in that brigade...it's very quiet. Even with Tsuruya in it, nothing much tends to happen. I can't really trust fate to give me an opportunity with my relationships, so I better think about something to do. I don't want to live in that club room when I can just hang out here with my friends. **_

That last statement made perked him up, as he turned his head to Tetsu. "Oi, would you like your birthday present?"

"Absolutely!" He responded.

"I think you'll enjoy this." Norio said confidently.

He moved his present from the table to the floor near the drummer. He quickly got to work on it by unwrapping the paper and opening the top. Tetsu looked interested, as it was a simple set of drumsticks. But upon closer inspection, his eyes lit up to the black ink decorating the wood. Especially with the drawing of a rabbit coming out of a top hat

"Pro Mark Drumsticks..." He muttered. His voice increased as he continued. "Signed by Peart-sama himself!"

"I thought you would enjoy those." Norio nodded.

"Nice choice." Masato said. "Get them off the internet?"

"Yeah." He shrugged.

"Not everyone can custom order things, Masato." Daiki said. "I used the internet to get him the CDs he wanted."

"You know Tetsu, there's actually more to the gift then you realize." The singer hinted.

"What's that?"

"Well, you just need to..."

Norio's words were interrupted by the sounds of a foot kicking the doors to the main music room open. Haruhi stormed inside with her eyes set on the singer of Unstability. Tsuruya soon followed, along with the rest of the divine teenager's entourage. Norio looked in disdain, as everyone had the same expression they had in that club room. The one exception would be Kyon, who looked a little worried over the situation. But that could have been Mikuru's huddling behind him.

"Norio!" Her words pierced through everyone's ears. "What are you doing fraternizing with the music club?!"

"They are my friends." He responded honestly. _**Does this really matter?**_

"I told you when you joined, that you had to quit the music club!" She said.

_I'm sorry, Yamada-san. I hope she doesn't go overboard._

"I did. It's just my friend's birthday, so I wanted to hang out with him."

"The SOS Brigade has pressing matters that you need to attend to!"

Norio tilted his head, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Really? What?"

"You know about my plans for the sequel to The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina! We needed to decide on a theme!"

"Ughh..." Daiki mumbled, shifting away from the underclassman.

He didn't want to think about the exploitation of a cute girl. He was sadly suckered into watching that movie with Masato. It was defined to be so bad that it was good, but to an artist like him, it just felt bad. Daiki noticed something peculiar as he turned his head. Masato had a complete horrified face as he looked at the brigade members. His eyes were blinking feverishly as he stared at the leader. But the main attraction was the discussion between Norio and Haruhi.

"Okay, so what's the theme going to be?" The singer asked

"That's why we needed you!" She pointed at him. "Do we do a space theme or a medieval theme?"

"Medieval." Norio said, without missing a beat. A source of inspiration for many of the metal trailblazers before reflecting around that time of swords and sorcery.

_Well, we are done here..._

Tsuruya promptly laughed from that instant response. Kyon stepped forward, trying to shed a good light on the club he was in.

"I believe that answers that. Let's go." He said.

She made a glance at Kyon as she kept that disappointed frown on her face. She spoke, but quickly grabbed Norio by his collar.

"Fine, we'll leave. Come Norio!"

_**This is crazy.**_

Just as Haruhi took a quick step; she immediately felt a hand taking her grip off of Norio's shirt.

"Hold on just a damn minute!" Wrathchild spoke up. "Where do you get off telling Norio what to do!? He isn't your slave! If he wants to hang out with his friends, then he should be allowed to hang out with his friends!"

"Is that so?" She said, staring back at the girl.

One could see the static electricity coming from the girls' eyes. Koizumi's normal facade changed as he opened his eyes. It was a common flaw of the students who don't interact with Haruhi. They truly didn't know how their words could affect their existence. Haruhi made a bit of a grin after examining the girl's face. The blonde-haired girl stood strong even with her change in the face.

_**Oh hell...I just know Wrathchild is going to start spewing curse words at Suzumiya-san. This is hard to watch. My membership is at stake.**_ _**Please, bite your tongue.**_

"Don't I know you?"

The guitarist scoffed. "I doubt it."

"You are in my class if I'm not mistaken." She continued with her attitude.

"I would have remembered a freak like you."

Norio started to panic from that remark. "Wrathchild, don't be so serious with the Brigade leader."

"Wrathchild, eh? I'm pretty sure that isn't your real name."

"Really? What gave it away?" She responded with just a sour attitude.

"But I know what your real name is."

The guitarist sharpened her eyebrow from the statement. "You're lying."

_Is she whispering this? Today really is full of surprises_

Haruhi bent down to the girl's ear as she whispered into it. If she cared so much about her name, then she wouldn't want it to be revealed to the public. Wrathchild's expression sunk as Suzumiya was dead on. The rest of the band mates looked in worry since the sole girl of the band would never show sadness. Anger, sure, but not depression. Kyon tilted his head in confusion...usually Haruhi was much more open in terms of blackmail.

"Fine." She muttered. "I don't care anymore."

_**She got to her. I always knew she was self-conscious about her name and what it meant to her...but if Haruhi really knows then I'm at a severe disadvantage.**_

"Perfect!" Haruhi said with a new enthusiastic attitude. "Let's get you to that club room!"

"Stop!" Tetsu shouted.

"Ugh...what now?" The smile disappeared from Haruhi's face.

"I understand the fact that Norio is a member of your club and...Not a part of ours." He held back his insults. "But on a day like this, can't you let him spend some time with his friends?"

"I think he has a point, Haru-nyan." Tsuruya said.

_**Thank you Tsuruya. I'm glad you are still on my side.**_

"No! It ruins the whole integrity of the brigade for one member to be missing!" She turned her attention the teenager in the crossfire. "Norio! If you don't come back now, then there will be punishment ahead!"

"What kind of punishment..." Kyon muttered.

"I'll think of something!" She said.

_**Why does it have to be at this level? My band mates or this obsessive club. Couldn't she have just stayed away? Was it really that important to pick a stupid theme? If she had waited thirty minutes...**_

"Umm..." Norio mumbled. "Maybe I should go."

"Norio, you should just do what you want to do." Daiki said.

"Quiet, baldy!" Haruhi pointed. Daiki scowled out her as he put his hand on his shaved head.

"You know what? I'm sick of your talking!" Tetsu said. "I'll do whatever I can to get Norio to stay here!"

_Wrong choice of words._

Haruhi grinned from that statement as she looked towards a corner of the room. There was a simple, yet unpolished drum kit lying with some sticks on the ground next to it. It was perfect for what she wanted. Looking at the irritated drummer, she knew the best way to settle this little argument.

"If you are dead set on keeping him here, then you won't mind putting your honor on line. I bet that we can put that drum to better use than you can."

Tetsu laughed heartily the challenge. "Fair enough! But who exactly are you going use?"

"Why, Yuki of course!"

Haruhi pushed the girl forward while she was still staring at her book. The bibliophile finally showed some attention to the argument at hand. Yuki looked over everyone while reviewing over Suzumiya's request. She slowly made her way to the drum kit in the corner, placing her hands on it for a brief period of time. Unstability looked completely puzzled at what she was doing. It almost looked like she was chanting. Kyon looked away, knowing what was eventually going to happen.

_That poor drummer. He's going to get torn apart. I guess this is the one crux about Nagato's powers, the way that everyone else perceives it. It's the best power that we have control of as long as it doesn't hurt anyone._

_**Can she really play drums? That would be rather impressive. Nagato can already play the guitar on par of Masato and Wrathchild. She seems to really have potential and talent, but she reads nonstop. There's something off here but I can't really figure it out. **_

"You think she can really play?" Daiki whispered.

"Not sure. But did you see her at the culture festival last year? Impressive work." Masato responded.

Tetsu looked at his opponent. "Are you ready?" Yuki nodded. "We'll play at one minute intervals going back and forth. You lose if you give up or are unable to play any more, got it?" Yuki nodded once more.

"Go!" Haruhi shouted.

Tetsu started off the round with something simple. A warm up, before he would truly reflect on his metal genres. He slowly whacked away at his hi-hat, to occasionally hit on the snare. The other band members were nodding their heads to the rhythm as he started to make things a little more complicated. An extra snare hit here, some bass pedal there, and once the minute was up, he finished it by soft tapping in his crash cymbal multiple times. He waited for the counter attack.

Yuki stared at her drum sticks for a brief moment before going to town. She had no means of subtlety as she released her attack on the snares and tom-toms without wincing. Her wrist moment was lightning fast, making several beats by the second. The metal heads were a little surprised by her speed. Without hesitation she moved to a straight snare roll. She didn't even have to stop to hit the cymbal or bass pedal. She stopped like an unintuitive driver once it reached one minute.

_**...Haruhi hasn't started a band...why?**_

_Maybe I should have told Nagato to ease on the manipulation._

"So just want to get down to making noise, eh?" The drummer grinned. "Fair enough!"

_**This is the one time where Tetsu's knowledge of death and doom metal actually helps him. Nothing plays louder or angrier beats than that. The one thing about drum battles though is that it's hard to choose a winner. Complexity and accuracy aren't a big issue...it's just about endurance. But who knows how long Nagato can last against him. **_

Haruhi watched on as Yuki continued to play at her inhuman speed. She looked unfazed while she played. Tetsu stared at her in shock, not ever seeing that speed performed for any one he knew. It was almost at the level of his heroes. Once she smashed that bass and cymbal together, she halted, waiting for the next minute to go by. He couldn't back down to this intimidation. He spun both of his drumsticks in his hands ready to play another set.

Mikuru put her hands on her ears from the massive noise. The whole brigade was rather amazed by how Yuki could play. Koizumi wondered how this was going to affect the school as a whole. The clear victory would quell most of Haruhi's anxiety, but Norio's insolence could lead to much more. Tsuruya herself was on the fence on this. She did want her friend to win, but any friend of Norio's shouldn't suffer for that. She noticed that as he took a deep breath before playing his drums again.

_This is actually taking longer than I expected. I wonder how long he could go on. It's been about...thirty minutes?_

Tetsu was preparing his most climactic ending ever after constantly moving across the drum set. He never expected an opponent like this girl to swoop in at his professional level. He was panting as he bashed on the kit with all of his might. He could feel calluses on his hand that were beginning to form. Knowing his time would be done, he summoned all of his power into his right hand as he smacked it against the snare head.

But that was a massive mistake. The angle he attacked the instrument at was slightly off, causing his drum stick to break by the top. It flew to the side, along with his chances of winning.

_**Noooooooo! **_

"My...my stick." Tetsu trembled.

"Yuki wins!" Haruhi cheered.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Daiki said. "He just broke his drum stick! He can use another."

"But that still means he is unable to play!" Itsuki and Tsuruya appropriately clapped at the victor as she rose from her chair and focused back on her story.

_Better this way than him running out of energy. It would be a much more painful defeat._

"Peart-sama...Moon-sama...I have failed you." He thought, covering his hands with his face.

"That means you are coming with us Norio!"

_**I can't argue at this point.**_

"I know." He sighed.

Without hesitation he was being dragged by Haruhi by his school jacket. She didn't want him out of her sights for a second. The rest of the brigade swiftly followed to get back to the project they were planning. The band was defeated from the loss. Wrathchild and Tetsu felt robbed for being humiliated like that. They stared at him with a level of disgust. He gave up way too easily for this so called brigade's sake. Just before he left the room, Norio shouted at them with full force.

"Look in the box!" He said.

Haruhi strengthened her grip as he was taken out of the building. The four teenagers moved their attention to the present that held the newly broken drumsticks. But on closer inspection...there was something off about it. Masato pressed against the bottom, causing it to tilt upwards. Inside of it were two other pairs of drum sticks signed by Tetsu's hero himself. Each with art from a particular album. He gazed at the extra pairs in awe along with the rest of the band.

"He...he does still care for us." Daiki said.

"But that girl..." Masato pondered. "He's going to have try his hardest to get out of there. Something doesn't feel right."

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to comment on anything that occurred here, because I'd like to know how to sharpen my drama skills. Haruhi too...I don't want to treat her unfairly.

Please Review!

Another note...this is probably the first chapter where the title song really comes into play. I wanted to go for a Who song, but it was relatively hard to pick one. Ironic I pick one that doesn't use much drums. What's also odd, is that this song would actually work pretty nicely for a Yuki/Kyon or Mikuru/Kyon supporter.


	5. Go With The Flow

While I do feel some-what guilty about how late this one took, I should tell my old readers that I'm not too dead-set on updating this story on a strick schedule. I still love it and plan to finish it, but I don't want to obsess over it's completion.

And oh yeah, as anyone seen those Haruhi-Chan or Churuya-San shorts? Man, those are funny. Great pick-me-ups too, especially since that animation company is filled with some hardcore trolls.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

"Alright everyone! You can go home!" Haruhi announced as the sunset glimmered off her shoulders.

The other members of the SOS Brigade, minus Yuki, briefly stood from their chairs to stretch. It had been a very long day for everyone in the room. Just one week ago the brigade had to deal with a major hurdle in the second year of its existence. Kyon quickly walked out of the room with Koizumi following. The two upperclassmen talked to each other before going away.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Tsuruya."

"See you tomorrows, Nori-kun!"

Tsuruya promptly skipped out the door leaving Haruhi, Mikuru, and Yuki behind. Norio took a big yawn as he walked in front of the clothes rack placed in the room. He slowly began to unbutton his vest until...

"Oi, Norio!"

He halted immediately. "Yes, Suzumiya-san?"

"Our agreement stated that your punishment was to last a full week! Considering that we punished you in the afternoon, you'll have to take the outfit home with you!"

He gritted his teeth, but calmed down. "I understand."

"Mikuru, you can change in here. Just keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't remove his clothes, ok?"

"Yes, yes ma'am." She nodded.

Norio placed his uniform into a bag as he walked out of the room. As punishment for defiling Haruhi's orders, he had to wear a uniform of Haruhi's choosing for an entire week. It's not like they only made costumes for girls. It was a rather fancy outfit, the kind that a high-class bartender would wear with a black vest, necktie, and white sleeves.

He rocked his head as he waited for the busty girl to finish changing. Norio started to twist the dangling fringes of his hair just to get his mind off everything that happened today. Once she walked out of the room, the two older students walked out of the school. He groaned as a harsh wind pushed against his skin in the thin outfit. It offered very little protection.

_**The school day is finally over. **_

Mikuru timidly followed Norio as he walked down the trademark steep hill of North High. First thing he wanted to do when he got home was to rest, listen to music, and take off these annoying clothes. Being in such an outfit didn't really improve his progress with Tsuruya. Everyday he saw her, she would burst out laughing. People who are irritated in their current situation must really tickle her fancy, he figured.

Norio glanced upward at the grey sky, knowing it was about to rain soon. He started to sprint so he could make it to his house without getting the suit wet. It would probably turn out to be some kind of penalty, knowing his luck. But as he was running, he noticed Kyon fiddling around with his bike lock. The two traded a glance before he went off into the distance.

_Run Yamada, run. I can't say that my day was too great either. It feels like everyone resonates off the insanity I should be feeling. _

_Today was the creative peak for The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina: Back to the Past. Yeah, not too special a title but it could have been worse. Haruhi was really getting into the spirit of this story. She talked about how she put a lot of thought into making the script and in just two days it was completed. She couldn't believe that she was able to pull it off._

_I know...I'm amazed she hasn't figured out her powers yet. It didn't get better from then on, because she wanted to put Asahina-san through several outfits. I find it a bit eerie that Tsuruya-san is as enthusiastic as Haruhi when it comes to cosplay. They had a hard time between going with a damsel, female knight, a queen or something with a campy, video-game charm. _

_Hold that thought for one second..._

Kyon turned his head to hear the panting of Asahina. She wasn't as athletic as the other girls in the brigade so she would get tired fairly easy. Kyon looked on to watch her try and catch up with Norio, hopping along the way. After witnessing that, he remembered that he had already removed his bike lock and was ready to go. He got on his bike and started to head for his own house.

_Sorry, hormones. Anyway, it just got irritating after the second hour of going through this process again, even with our new members who were supposed to bring something new to the table. Haruhi ordering, Koizumi kissing her feet, Asahina-san whimpering and Nagato, reading without a care in the world. I really don't want to go through the whole process again._

_We are accepting the fact that this is a play, however, so this is much less world-threatening. There's no editing or fear that Haruhi's fantasy world will mix with our own. She does expect the best from all of us since we'll be reprising roles. I'll have to work as a narrator, but fortunately all of that can be done from behind a curtain. Some people say my voice is my most defining feature._

_Now Yamada-san? Oh, that poor kid has to go through a lot. Haruhi made him cosplay, but it was something much more appropriate than what I expected. Something like a dress would be funny but I suppose it's a good thing he didn't have to put one on. I was surprised with the amount of self-restraint the two of them had. Haruhi didn't want to be too harsh and Yamada kept his mouth shut._

_Concerning him with the movie, he's going to play as Asahina-san's bishōnen sidekick. While Koizumi is the love interest in this series, he, along with Tsuruya-san, are going to play as Nagato's brainwashed minions. Yamada felt really disappointed with the script, but was pleased with the side plot that Haruhi had planned. _

_She said the best way to add a twist into the story is to make them star-crossed lovers. I I noticed that he seemed rather interested... he was blushing and twirling his hair. Does he do that all the time? Not sure, but either way it sounds like this play is going to be relatively painless. The only thing that I hope for is that Haruhi doesn't aim for anything dramatic or dangerous during the talent show._

_Who knows what kind of effects that would have._

Kyon came to a sudden halt, finally reaching his house. He stretched his neck, ready to begin the normal part of his life. He could just eat, sleep, do homework, and possibly spend some time with his little sister. The talent show was in a couple of days, so he had to prepare and not screw up, for the whole Brigade's sake.

Speaking of which, on a different side of town, Norio was happy to be at his house. He could finally take off the costume that he was forced to wear. He was about to take off his suit until he heard the heavy breathing from the moé incarnate. Norio decided not to go in the house since something had been racking his brain all day.

_**So Mikuru-san has followed me home. This is the perfect opportunity to ask her something that I really need to know.**_

_**There is something very off about that club. I don't see the correlation between making a fantasy movie and looking for aliens, time travelers, or espers. Does everyone just follow what Suzumiya asks them to? What exactly has drawn them to join this club? It's not like they seem to be all that interested in the paranormal.**_

_**I usually wouldn't pry, but it clearly feels like something doesn't belong. Suzumiya-san, Koizumi-kōhai, and Tsuruya are the only ones who seem to enjoy making this silly little film. Kyon had that sour look as always and poor Mikuru-san had to go through wearing all of those costumes. It's bad enough that she has to go through this, along with the horror stories of Suzumiya using her cuteness for personal gain.**_

_**If someone like Mikuru is being used that much, why is she even in the Brigade? Does Tsuruya know this? Does she care? I care enough for Mikuru-san's personal safety, so I have to know.**_

Mikuru stopped right in front of Norio after minutes of running. She bent her head down so that she could catch her breath. When she was finished, she looked up to see Norio gazing at her with an intrigued look. Mikuru cowered as the boy raised his hand upward, to get her attention. He should have realized that her timid nature would have gotten the best of her, so he decided to speak and avoid confusion.

"Why did you follow me?" He asked.

"Uh..." She stammered. "Suzumiya-san wanted me to follow you so that you wouldn't take of your outfit. It's part of your punishment."

"Ah. I understand."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Asahina bowed. "I know Suzumiya-san can get excessive when it comes to these things."

"Tell me about it." He grunted. "I'm not sure what kind of message she tries to send by making us where costumes."

"Well..." She wanted to explain.

"Honestly, Mikuru-san. In our senior year, I've seen you spend more time in that blue maid costume than your normal school uniform. What gives?"

"Suzumiya-san prefers that I wear the outfit."

"I don't know about Haruhi's weird obsession, but it makes me wonder about you. I've seen how you look when you are in that clubroom. It's like even when you are surrounded by your friends you are unhappy. Why do you continue to go to that club if it does nothing but bring you misery? It's not like it brings any merit or anything."

Mikuru took a pause from that statement. She clutched her chest as she moved her eyes from side to side. What could she say to stop Norio's acquisition? Being a time traveler, she regretted not looking into this kind of possibility - especially since he was such a close friend of Tsuruya. She looked up at him with shimmering eyes, trying to give the best response she could.

"I...I like staying there."

Norio blinked. He was a bit taken off by her simple answer. "Why?"

"I enjoy spending time in the clubroom. I do have to make tea and wear something I am not accustomed too...but I find comfort in pleasing all of those around me." Mikuru said, tilting her head away from the student.

_**It pleases you to be treated like dirt? **_

"Is there something more complicated with this?" He responded. "If you truly enjoy being there, then it feels like Suzumiya-san would do something aside from boss you around. It feels like the only ones you can relate to in there are Tsuruya and I."

"No..." She said, starting to blush.

"Are you like me?" He questioned.

She didn't respond.

"Is it Koizumi? Or Kyon perhaps?" He stated.

"I have to leave now! I'm sorry!" She said, taking off.

Norio slowly watched as she trailed off back into the city. His mind felt even more confused than usual. It was like he was within arms' reach of getting a straight answer right before it was pulled away. He shifted his mind to a more current task...of why the hell he was still in the costume. Norio went to work taking off the vest as he went into the house.

_**So close. I have an answer, not the one I wanted, but it still helps. However, it still leaves me with much more to desire. What kind of person would join a club to be bossed around like that? Even though I'm pursuing for romance, Suzumiya-san primarily avoided me. She didn't have any problems with me until a week ago.**_

_**But Mikuru-san...that poor thing. Why? Does she have the tolerance of a saint and is joining to find love like me? Maybe... but she would have done something by now. She's been in that blasted club for more than a year and all men find her charming. What would be holding her back?**_

_**It just doesn't follow. For one, why would you use a cute girl like her to show off your club? It's no doubt that sex sells, but it feels like that is all they are doing. Six members are rather pathetic compared to the other clubs here. There's no fun...there's little substance. This club isn't about spreading excitement all over the world; it's about the exploitation of the genuine student body.**_

**_What kind of things do they really do in the SOS Brigade that would keep Mikuru so quiet? This involves looking at it from a different approach. I may have to ask around just so I figure out the true history of this. What has happened over the year? There better be some purpose to the club...I don't want the same to happen to Kyon or Tsuruya._**

Norio took a deep sigh, putting his clothes in the laundry. _**I should start listening to Lindemann's creative tones before these thoughts ruin my peace and quiet.**_

* * *

It was a new day in the Hyōgo Prefecture as waves of teenagers began to gather around North High. Norio knew that there a very small amount of time to perform what he wanted. If the rumors were true, he would be able to learn everything he wanted to know about Haruhi. It just involved a bit of searching.

He started to check by lockers first, since it would be the most inconspicuous. That area had the least amount of danger for being caught. With no luck, he started to check by the classrooms. He slowly leaned his head into each doorway, just so he had enough time to scope each area.

Norio finally came across the right room where his target was found. He was a bit cautious, as this was the den where the beast resided. The singer walked up to a set of two boys, one with silver hair who was a bit tanner than most, and a short brown-haired kid next to him. As the two of them laughed, Norio spoke to get his attention.

"Excuse me." He said.

"What is it?" The underclassmen asked.

"Are you Taniguchi?" Norio said.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Would you mind if I talked with you for a second?"

Taniguchi shrugged. "Yeah."

He tilted his head to side. "Privately?"

"Fine. Hold those thoughts Kunikida." He said.

The two students walked out of the room. Norio hoped for the best while Taniguchi was a bit unsettled with senior speaking to him. He leaned against the wall to appear less intimidating, while the junior looked at him in an unpleased fashion.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Norio decided to be direct. "Sources have told me that you keep down information of all the girls in your grade."

"Yeah, that's true." He said, with a bit of pride.

"Can you give me information on one particular girl?"

"Who?"

"Suzumiya Haruhi."

Taniguchi made a strong groan hearing those two words. He felt a bit less comfortable knowing that the singer was completely serious about the matter.

"Don't tell me you are interested in her." He said with a disheartened tone.

"Not romantically."

"Well, that's good. Do you know what kind of person she is?"

"Actually, no. That's why I wanted to ask you some questions about her. I don't know anything about her history, so I'm wondering if a third party can tell me what I want to know."

"Why are you curious?" Taniguchi questioned.

"I joined the SOS Brigade recently and I'm having my doubts."

He placed his fingers on his temple, feeling a recurring pain. "Oh dear."

"I need to know some things about Haruhi before I jump to conclusions. Can you tell me all you can about her?"

"I'm just going to warn you." Taniguchi raised his finger. "What I'm about to tell you is all true. Are you willing to listen to everything I tell you?"

_**Does her reputation really speak for her?**_

"Yes."

"Okay then." Taniguchi began. "I went to Junior High with Haruhi before coming here and her personality was basically the same as it is now. While she has changed a little bit in the past year, she was always this very weird and cold being; despite everything she has working for her."

"Any reason?"

"Not that I know of. All I know is that she would do something that would interest her for a little bit and then stop after she got bored. What she was publicly known for, however, was when she started drawing large alien and necromantic symbols around school using various tools at her disposal."

_**Symbols? Like a cult?**_

"Did she ever say why?" Norio asked.

Taniguchi shrugged. "She must have a big thing for science fiction, but it's hard to tell with the way that her grades and skills are."

"How are they? I only know of what she does in the brigade."

"You must be a very isolated person then."

_**I'm not usually the type who snoops around, sorry.**_

The silver haired kid continued. "Haruhi had this peculiar knack of trying every single club at this school. You could say this is the part when her personality really stuck out in high school. Despite how much she excelled in everything from track to baseball, she denied membership to every club. She quickly denounced every club as being boring and uninteresting."

_**Must have skipped the music club. We would probably still be fighting for her.**_

"Her grades are pretty good too. She also has incredible looks combined with all of the talent and knowledge, so she was pretty popular with guys. The odd thing about her is that she accepted anyone who asked her out on a date."

"But that didn't last long, did it?"

"Nope. Even though she'll say yes to anyone who asks, the relationships would break off easy. The longest lasted about a week, while the shortest lasted about 15 minutes."

_**Fifteen minutes? Sheesh...**_

He started to scratch his head as he talked about recent events. "So because she was bored with everyone, she got the bright idea that she should form her own club which has been doing random things to this very day. Anything from movies or baseball or the culture festival, the SOS Brigade has been there. It just kind of saddens me that Kyon got roped into the whole thing."

"Kyon was put into the brigade?" Norio asked.

"Yeah, Haruhi just kind of pulled him aside and got him involved with it. I feel bad for the guy."

"Why?"

"For one, it doesn't help if you even hang out with Haruhi. You'll get the stink of weird on you and people won't really want to talk to you. Not to mention that whenever he hangs around us, he doesn't like to talk about it."

_**Does Kyon even enjoy being in the brigade? If he had to do this much work for no particular reason...**_

"So if you want my advice, I would drop out of the club as soon as you can. It's something you really don't want to be known for." Taniguchi warned, pointing at Norio's face.

_**How strange. Suzumiya is even more complicated than I expected. And this isn't the typical kind of high school girl definition where she is depressed. She might be...or she could have a complex family life. Maybe issues with people. Something with her childhood? This has just completely thrown me off...if a club has no purpose, why does it need to be established?**_

"Thank you, Taniguchi."

"No problem." He waved. "I'm going to head to class then."

_**One more little issue to handle.**_

"Just one last question." Norio interrupted.

"What's that?"

"I've also heard that you have a rating system for all of the girls in school. How does the SOS Brigade do on this list?"

"Hmmm..." Taniguchi said, putting his hand on his chin. "Well while Haruhi has her looks and her incredible ability, her attitude is a real big turn off. She's just a C really. With Nagato, she isn't that great to look at but she has that whole dandere going on and is rather cute. So she gets an A-. Mikuru is a solid A+ because of her looks and personality, but it feels like she's missing something. Not quite sure what that is though."

"I see." He blinked. "Does that scale apply for anyone else?"

"Like who?"

"Well, there's Tsuruya who sometimes works for the Brigade..."

"She's an A+." Taniguchi said. "It's kind of strange, but she turns out to be a really good person even with the way she acts around everyone. Plus all of those things about her like her voice and hair really work in their favor."

"Cool." He nodded.

"Any reason you asked?"

"I'm just curious."

_**Anything lower than A, and you would be decked.**_

After that feeling, the first bell rang. The two boys immediately recoiled and went their separate ways. Norio darted up the stairs towards the clubroom, hoping for the best. Once he opened the door, he felt defeated seeing everyone promptly sitting in their respected areas. Haruhi stood and quickly stared the new member down.

"You are late! Penalty!" She said.

_**By a few seconds.**_

"Darn." He said, looking down.

"It happens sometimes." Kyon stated having to deal with it before.

"What's my punishment?" Norio asked.

"You have the uniform with you, right?" Haruhi asked

"Yeah..."

"Put it back on. For being late, an extra day has been added for our agreement."

Norio wanted to argue with her that a couple of seconds isn't that big of a deal, but he didn't. It wouldn't be right since there were still things left about Haruhi that were left to discover. He groaned, putting down his backpack and getting the suit out.

"You have to respect Suzumiya-san's wishes." Koizumi smiled.

"Don't worries, Nori-kun." Tsuruya said. "You should feel proud that you can wear that outfit, nyoro. You look kind of cute in it."

The singer stayed quiet, holding onto the bag filled with clean clothes. He walked out of the room, blushing from Tsuruya's comment. Kyon slowly tilted his head around the room, looking at the two upperclassmen. He stared back at the door, taking a deep sigh.

_Is love what truly brings you to the brigade, Norio?_

* * *

Sorry it took so long guys. I have two proofreaders who are usually good at pointing out different flaws, so I like to wait for both of them to respond. And once you use a proof-reader...it's hard to NOT use one.

But I hope that you all enjoyed this one.

Please Review!

PS: To anyone that is curious, a "Dandere" is as defined as "to be calm or to shut one's mouth up all the time." And she's emotional when you are alone. And for music choice...I was torn between this and another song...just because I got addicted to the chorus. But you'll probably see a few musical references in the next chapter.


	6. Losing My Religion

Hey everyone, Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'll be sure to get started on Chapter 7 as soon as I can to make up for my lateness. I can't really say much to how I can explain my lateness, but it's important to hone your craft and check every single detail.

Don't worry though, because I'll try to create chapters a little faster. In the mean time, you guys should re-watch the series (which will be on youtube) and the Churuya/Haruhi-Chan shorts. They are awesome pick-me-ups.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

"No no no!" Haruhi shouted from the crowd.

The four people standing on stage looked back at their club leader. She felt irritated as her vision was being corrupted by everyone's sub-par performance. They only had a few days left before the talent show would start, so they had to hone their acting craft. However, actors have a much different duty than the any of the technical workers.

"You are supposed to attack your enemies with your machine gun! That's when the big fight scene erupts!"

"But, Suzumiya-san!" Mikuru pleaded. "I don't think it's a g-good idea to bring fake guns into the story! Since we are in a school, isn't this a bit much!?"

"Of course not!" She stated, standing from her chair. "The SOS Brigade's newest contribution to the Mikuru Asahina Saga must be better than the first! We have to make everyone realize that they completely missed out when they didn't catch the first movie!"

"Point taken, Miss Suzumiya." Koizumi said.

"While I understand what Suzumiya-san is saying, I think we should cut back on the weapons." Norio interjected. "We are going to use swords anyway."

"That is true..." The esper pondered. He knew that Haruhi's wishes for the performance would come true, but it would be best to make it as subtle as possible, like a certain baseball game.

"Oi!" Haruhi demanded. "If they want a performance, they shouldn't restrict us!"

"Disqualification appears imminent with the possession of firearms, artificial or not." Yuki stated, leaning against the wall with her ever-prominent book.

Haruhi grunted, knowing that the talent show did have a few rules to follow. She started to finger through her magically written script to see if anything else would be some sort of violation. The scene she was planning on performing was located around the middle, so nothing too serious would be lost from the change. She began to think crucially as there had to be a way to make everything comical and violent at the same.

"Okay everyone, take a break." She dismissed. "I have some editing to do."

As she walked outside to collect her thoughts, the actors on the stage took a quick moment to disperse. Itsuki walked to one side of the curtains where Kyon was lazily sitting at a desk. While the narrator doesn't ever appear in a scene, he watched over the actors to give the appropriate response. Plus, he had to make sure things were to go much more smoothly for particular acts.

"You know what I have to do." Itsuki stated.

"Okay then." Kyon said. He half-heartedly lifted his fist. "Show those shinjin who's in charge."

"If Miss Suzumiya happens to ask where I am, just tell her I'm getting juice."

_That would mean you would have to buy juice. Ah well, better than any excuse I can think of. If I were to suggest the bathroom, she may actually go into one looking for him._

Kyon closed his script to take a pause from all of the nonsense. Haruhi had not changed her creative mind at all from the last movie. He started to watch the girls talking to each other while Norio walked off the stage. He leaned in a corner, opposite of Nagato.

_Seems that Haruhi's expectations have started to take their toll on Yamada. The cosplaying is usually the first step, but getting over public humiliation is another thing. Granted, I haven't had to deal with as much of it as Asahina-san, but it can still be a bit much. Part of me wonders if Haruhi would ever strive to be a regular kind of student who would just wants to finish High School._

_But finishing school would mean going to college, which is full of life experience. And the kind of things Haruhi will be worrying about then..._

_Well, I don't really want to think about those._

_Back to the new story, this plot doesn't follow one bit. It's just Asahina the Maid vs. Nagato the Witch again. What's odd about this though is that it has less conflict and more conflict at the same time. Itsuki is put in the middle of this as his ancestor is captured by the mind-controlled queen, Tsuruya-san. So with the power of an army on their side, the question is: Can Asahina and Yamada rise up and defeat Nagato? Can a time-traveler and an infatuated blacksmith prevail for truth?!_

_...You can tell by how excited I sound about how great this movie will be..._

_It's very typical by Haruhi's standards. There's a ton of scenes in here that don't really follow. The beginning with Yamada and Asahina, Yuki plotting, Yamada and Tsuruya longing for one another, and then a ton of filler until the climactic battle which we are working on. Haruhi believed it would be best to taunt the audience first with the drama and then pull them in with action. _

_Like a typical Suzumiya production, the plot doesn't really make any sense. The students will find something genuine to like about it. I did get irritated by the script because none of my parts have been accounted for. It's like she wants me to come up with dialogue right on the spot. She should know that it's difficult to think of this stuff during a live presentation. Either way, we'll win, they'll cheer, and Haruhi will find something else to keep herself interested._

_I think I'm becoming a bit too sour from all this, but like Haruhi, nothing has been surprising me lately. Even with my suspicions towards Yamada, he hasn't tried to do anything drastic. There was only the incident with the music club and the cosplaying, and he was quite submissive. The whole issue worried me at first. Not because of possible destruction, but because Haruhi could have made me dress up like that._

_After that scenario, he was calm. He would focus on the play or the music he enjoyed. I didn't get too much into it, but it feels like he almost wants to keep his musical preferences away from Tsuruya-san. I know, it doesn't make a lot of sense to be in a band of that taste and keep it from someone you care for, but that's what he's doing. My only question left for him is how much longer he will stay. _

Norio slowly moved his eyelids as he pulled his .mp3 player out of his pocket. He was getting tired from Haruhi's demands and needed something to deafen himself to reality. He scrolled through his list of bands, chose the song he longed for, and slipped on his concealed ear buds. The boy closed his eyes to let the sound take him away so he could gather his thoughts.

_**Hizumi-sama...your words of wisdom can help me in my time of need.**_

_**I can't stand being in this club anymore. The small things that I would not even think about are starting to ride my every nerve. This so-called play is all I can stand from these strange people. It's so unbelievably silly. To think, I didn't see this coming from the last story they made. I don't want to be remembered for something like this.**_

_**Nearly everyone here is driving me to the limit, physically and mentally. I've been trying to figure out exactly what this club does or why people have joined it. Do people avoid it just because it's so weird? I can't really blame them, but now, the problems with this brigade are glaring at me in the face. It's all with the members.**_

_**Mikuru didn't want to tell me about why she joined the brigade. Suzumiya feels hell-bent to get everything she wants. I've heard the rumors of what she's done just to get computers. ...How did I miss this? And I can't depend on Koizumi or Nagato to tell me anything. They just sit there like puppets. They are automatically supportive of anything that happens.**_

Norio paused for a moment, hearing footsteps. It was merely Koizumi bringing back juice for everyone. He traced the teenager as he went on stage, giving everyone the appropriate drink. The singer stopped for a moment, to look at Tsuruya. She couldn't help but laugh as Mikuru nearly spilled some liquid on herself. Seeing Nagato unaffected by everything that happened, he looked down at his shoes.

_**Look at the lost souls. They seem...so black. It feels like they don't do anything other than club activities. I should have asked around for more information when I had the chance. Wearing an outfit wouldn't be that bad. Am I missing something on this whole formula? Might Suzumiya have some underlying kindness that everyone else has seen?**_

_**I hope so. The only reason I come to this club now is just to be with Tsuruya. She appears to be taking this role rather seriously. I am still not sure if she truly feels for me. But now, what concerns me the most is her safety. She was never quite a member of the SOS Brigade. What's her purpose for joining along? To have fun? To please Suzumiya? I have to know.**_

The boy blinked in a second. He felt stupid for ignoring the obvious. He grabbed a napkin out of his pocket and started to write on it. If he were to get his answers about the brigade, there was one hope for him left. He glanced by to see Haruhi coming towards the door. Norio walked up the stage stairs and behind the curtain to meet up with Kyon. He immediately clasped his hands together and bowed to him.

_Why, hello there. What do you need?_

"Please Kyon." Norio panted. "Take this note."

He wasn't exactly pleased by the boy's position, seeing the napkin in between his hands.

"For what?" He said.

"I need to speak to you about something. It's dire." He stressed.

_What fun. And I was just getting used to some normal activity._

"Okay then." Kyon shrugged.

"I'm back!" Haruhi announced.

Norio twitched upon hearing her come to the stage. "Kyon, you have to meet me at that address and that particular time. There's something I really need to know."

"What's that?"

"You'll find out!" He quickly said.

Norio returned to the front of the stage while Haruhi was pushing her new script to the performers. Kyon folded the napkin out, to see what everything was about. The meeting was set for today, not too far from when school ended. He simply sighed to himself while the others opened up their scripts.

_Let's see what is tossed at me this time. At least if I know what Norio is thinking, everything will look crystal clear. Mystery is the one thing I want to avoid._

_**What the...how did Suzumiya's edits get on my paper?**_

* * *

A few hours after school ended, Kyon stopped his bike at the location specified in the note. He slowly started to gather his thoughts as he secured his bike and went inside. It was a rather big place, so he had to search for Norio in the crowd.

_A public setting, eh? I'll have to credit Yamada for thinking of something new. If he picked a place like this, then he should be able to keep his composure. At least I hope so. Being embarrassed at school is one thing, but I don't think I could sympathize for him if he were to act crazy here. If people like Miss Asahina can handle pressure at any time, then Yamada shouldn't even flinch._

_"_Kyon! Over here!" Norio said from not far away.

_The moment of truth._

"Hey." Kyon greeted, taking a seat at the booth.

"How are you?"

Kyon shrugged. "Can't complain."

"That's good."

_Why are we making small talk exactly?_

"Hello!" A waitress said. "May I get you something to drink?"

Kyon took a quick glance at the girl who was ready to take their order. He felt a bit displeased, as she was wearing something similar to Mikuru's maid outfit, yet shorter with orange instead of blue. She seemed really eager to take down their orders.

"Tea." Norio said without missing a beat.

"Water."

"Understood!" The waitress said, walking off into the distance.

"Is there something you need?" Kyon asked.

"Yes..." Norio said, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Well let me begin. Why do you want...?"

"Here you go!" The waitress interrupted; bring tea and water to the table.

"That was quick." The musician smiled.

"If we are to kick off the labor revolution, I need to do the best I can!" She cheered, causing her short, magenta hair to bounce. "So what would you like to eat?!"

_Perhaps Yamada is some kind of weird girl magnet. Wait a minute, that's my job..._

_"_Tarako Spaghetti." Norio said.

Kyon quickly blinked, looking down at his menu. "Uh...I'm not sure if I want anything."

"Don't worry about it." He shrugged. "I'm going to pay, so you may as well get something."

"Alright then. Salmon bagel please."

"Yes sir!" She said, finishing her order. The waitress bowed and went off to the next table that required her services.

_That felt pointless._

"So why are we here, exactly?" Kyon asked.

"Two reasons." Norio began. "I haven't had dinner and like tarako spaghetti, and I really need to talk to you about something."

"So what's that?" Kyon.

Norio sneered as he looked out of the window from his booth. "I want to learn more about the SOS Brigade."

Kyon's heart skipped for a bit, but he quickly accepted the request he was given. "What is there to know?"

"Haruhi." Norio said.

_Here we go. It's a bit strange though, since he's pressing me for information. Maybe Yamada is some type of spy like Asahina-san and Koizumi have feared. But with someone who hasn't done anything for nearly a month, it's a hard call. Perhaps I'll have to use some psychology to see if he's actually a threat._

_Students as threats? Well, it wouldn't be the first time._

"If you want to know about her, I'd have to know what you know already."

"Okay then." Norio breathed. "According to that student, Taniguchi, he told me some stuff about Haruhi's history that I didn't know about. Stuff about her grades, her club activities, and her attitude towards everyone...it doesn't really follow from what I've heard."

"How so?" Kyon asked.

"Don't you think she's seems a little...off?" Norio said.

_Define "off"._

"Of course." He shrugged. "But how do you mean off?"

"Like...she's very talented at practically anything she does. She is also very attractive and many men from the school feel that way too. Yet when I talked to her, she was a bit harsh."

"That's Haruhi."

"But why?" Norio questioned. "If someone had all of that amazing potential, why would you treat everyone else like animals?"

_Looks like I may have to give him some information that I didn't think I would have to tell anyone else. It's a bit surprising actually that none of the others have asked me about it. _

"I felt a bit confused by Haruhi as well when I first talked to her." Kyon dragged the conversation on. "But over time I learned that she's a caring person. I suppose you could say that she isn't used to be complimented or thanked for anything, so it's hard for her to talk nicely about others."

_**Wrathchild is the same way.**_

Norio started to wrap his finger around his hair. "Isn't there some kind of definition for that? A girl who's abrasive at first but then modest?"

"Don't ask me." Kyon bluntly stated.

"But that's what I want to know." Norio pleaded. "I need to know if Haruhi has some type of redeeming quality to her. All I've seen is that she steps all over you, Mikuru, and me. Is there a reason everyone in the brigade is so understanding to everything she does? Am I missing something very important here? Does she have some kind of mysterious past?"

_Wow, you are talkative._

"She does." Kyon said.

"What?"

"I guess I can tell you, but you really shouldn't take it very seriously."

"Any information is helpful." Norio stated.

_Okay, let's pray that I don't get any rude awakenings from this._

"Haruhi was a normal person for a very long time. She had a very happy childhood in fact as she tended to love anything. But if I recall correctly, she one day went to a baseball game that changed it all. That baseball stadium was fully packed that day, and she was just astonished by all of the people. Not too long after it, she started to deeply think about life and its purpose."

"Did she get lost? Was she devoted to some athlete?" Norio guessed.

"I don't know, but that game caused Haruhi to change her attitude. She soon did research to find out that there were millions of people in Japan who were just like her. Who were living their simple life just like she was? For a long time, she believed her life was special and interesting because of her friends and school life. But when she learned that was a normal part of life, she started to become more isolated from people. That's why she always talks about aliens, time travelers, and espers. She believes that those people are truly unique and must have a very extraordinary life."

The singer started to collect all of those thoughts as he looked out of the window. Kyon started to worry as Norio was putting his hand on one side of his face. He slowly started to tap his fingers on the table and sip on his tea. It was anything to keep the silence intact. His thoughts started to conjure all of the ideas together, to think of a coherent reply.

_This isn't good. I'll have to say something to keep him from doing anything. For all I know, he might be sending messages to an underground organization with his brain._

_Wow, Haruhi really has screwed with my thoughts._

_"_She believes that her life will be enriched if she meets someone like that." Kyon added in.

Norio had one simple response. "Is that it?"

"What?" He said, taken back.

"No trauma? No illness?"

"No..." He responded, emphasizing the term.

Norio shifted his eyes from the window to Kyon's face. His glance appeared rather serious than his normal demeanor.

"The reason she hates everyone is because she doesn't feel special." The singer dismissed.

Kyon could only look away from that response. _Wow, put a bullet through my stomach why don't you._

"Sounds pretty selfish, doesn't it?" Norio said.

"Yeah." Kyon couldn't argue. "Haruhi always acts that way."

"Everyone has problems." Norio groaned. "I'm not going to deny that sometimes people feel that way. But that just doesn't make any sense. Doesn't she have any idea what she does to people? What she looks like? What she has done?"

_It's feeling rather dramatic in here..._

"She may just have some real big self esteem issues." Kyon assumed.

"Why, at any reason of all, would a girl like her have low self esteem?"

"I...don't really know." Kyon said honestly.

"I was hoping for some kind of root for these actions, but...that doesn't help me at all. It doesn't make her and her brigade redeemable."

"Redeemable?"

"Kyon?" Norio addressed. "Do you know what Stockholm syndrome is?"

He took a brief pause. "Yeah."

_Here come the theories. Not necessarily a bad or out of the ordinary theory though. I think some of Asahina-san's supporters would believe in this._

"Lately, it feels like that brigade is a perfect example of Stockholm syndrome."

"I think that's putting it a bit far."

"It shows all of the signs!" Norio said. "I talked to Mikuru about this, and she couldn't give me an answer to why she stays in the brigade. You don't seem to enjoy it either. With Koizumi and Nagato, I can't tell if they truly like it or not."

"They enjoy it." Kyon quickly stated.

"But their condition is different. Koizumi will agree with anything that Haruhi suggests. And Nagato, Nagato is completely silent and emotionless with just about any concern. To protect itself, the brain will sometimes cause you to act that way to suppress pain or feeling."

_Possible, but very wrong Yamada._

"So if you notice all of this, why haven't you left?"

Norio took a deep breath as he looked away from Kyon. "Tsuruya..."

_Now's a good time for me to change the subject. If I were to tell him the truth about any other of the members, I don't want to know what he would do._

"You are concerned for her?"

"I...I don't want her to go through the same situation that everyone else is going through." He admitted.

"Tsuruya-san is strong. I think if there's anyone who truly enjoys being in the brigade, it's her." Kyon said in a supporting tone.

"I can't tell..." He said, looking down. "She's the only reason I really go to club anymore. I can't stand it, but I feel obligated to go because of her."

Just as Kyon was about to respond, the waitress came back with the spaghetti and bagel sandwich. After everything was set down, he noticed how Norio still looked rather concerned about the issue at hand. He knew that at this moment, it would be a perfect time to get him off of the subject of Haruhi and onto more important matters.

"Do you mind telling me something, Yamada?"

"What's that?" He raised his hand.

"What makes you like Tsuruya-san so much?"

With that simple statement, Norio's mood shifted. He leaned his head on his hand while he started to blush. The teenager started to recall to those easy-going days during his earlier school years. He took a deep breath, ready to speak and enjoy his food.

"Well...as you know." Norio began. "The two of us were relatively close during our first year of North High. However, the day I learned that I truly loved her is a much different scenario."

"I'm all ears." Kyon said.

* * *

_**This scenario was not too long ago actually. It was around the end of last year during the cultural festival. It was a very boring year to be honest. The only thing significant that happened was that Wrathchild moved from here and joined the band. We were all prepared to put on a good show at the festival, however tragedy hit us big time.**_

_**Poor Daiki's grandfather passed away and he didn't feel up for playing. Unlike several other heavy metal bands, we cared about our bass player so we didn't abandon him. We would have other moments of opportunity. The other thing I was concerned over was that there was some mysterious disappearance during this year.**_

_**That one really cute girl...Asakura Ryoko had left for Canada. It felt a bit odd because all of us in the band agreed that she was beautiful. They nearly pushed on me to go for her. And while there were really good qualities about her, I never really got close to her. The day she disappeared, I wasn't heartbroken or anything, but I felt rather confused about it. In the long run, I didn't lose anything from that.**_

_It's a good thing I'm under obligation not to talk about Asakura or you would probably be really down now. Being attracted to a psycho would mess you up. Thinking back to that dreadful experience, I don't think anyone would have assumed it. But you not pining over that girl makes this ordeal much easier._

_**The day of the cultural festival I was feeling very, very low. My grades were subpar and we didn't get to perform. I really wanted to display off Unstability's music in live form, but our only day to play was cancelled. It may have been for the best anyway, since I saw Haruhi and Nagato's incredible performance. Everyone remembers only the best band during those events.**_

_**So not long after the festival ended, I was just sitting on the corner of the street, waiting for the bus to arrive. When out of the blue...she appears. And I felt immediately embarrassed because I didn't see her once that day.**_

"Hey, Nori-kun!" Tsuruya said.

Norio slanted his head, hearing his friend's voice. His eyes weren't prepared for what he was about to see. Tsuruya was dressed up it a rather pretty looking maid uniform. Very large and dark blue as it amplified every part of her feminine figure. It caused him to blush and look away from her.

_**Faster than a laser bullet...louder than an atom bomb...I couldn't believe how pretty she was that day. It was like being blinded by a thousand suns made of chromium metal.**_

"H-hi, Tsuruya." He stammered.

"You look down, nyoro." She stated. She got closer to him. "Need to talk about something?"

"Uh..." He turned his head. Once he nearly made eye contact with that outfit again, he had to turn around again. "Sort of."

"Is something wrong?" Tsuruya asked. Quickly, she started to notice how he was all nervous around her. She started to laugh really hard from his reaction. "Hahaha! Is it my outfit?!"

Norio started to do his trademark move of touching his hair. "Not really..."

"It's okay. I look megas cute in this outfit, don't I?" She smiled

"You do." Norio slipped out.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. Are you just waiting for the bus?"

"Yeah. Today hasn't been too great." He said, gaining some of his confidence back.

"Oh?"

"My band was scheduled to play today, but we couldn't. It's nothing big, but I'm still bummed out about it."

"Well, don't worry about that, Nori-kun!" Tsuruya stressed. "You've have tons of opportunities to play your music! You just needs to work out everything first before your next project!"

"I should have thought that through." He said with a sinking tone.

"It's okay, nyoro." She comforted him. "And even if you do mess ups, I'll still be sure to help you out!"

Norio felt touched by that statement. It almost felt like all of his worries had melted away from Tsuruya's support. He immediately stood up, ready to embrace the rest of the school year. His band would have more time to perfect itself in front of a live crowd. He felt very relieved as Tsuruya smiled at him.

"Thank you, Tsuruya." He smiled.

"No problem!" She shouted.

"Just a question though." Norio needed to know. "Why are you still wearing that costume?"

"Oh yeah..." The green-haired girl blinked. "I was wearing it all day and the by the time the festival was over, most of the doors were locked."

"I see." After saying that, a light bulb immediately flashed above Norio's head. "Would you mind if I walked you home?"

"Why's that?"

He grinned. "Well, you don't want to lose that costume for one."

She clasped together her palm and fist. "Ooooh...that's a megas good idea."

"Let's get going."

_**And with that stroke of luck, I walked Tsuruya home feeling better than ever. I hoped nothing would happen to her because she was going to her house in that costume, but we were safe. Everything just fit together so well that...I couldn't ignore it. It was too great of a feeling to be with her and help her out.**_

**

* * *

  
**

"It was then on that I speculated seeing Tsuruya as my girlfriend. There are just so many things about her that I enjoy and I wonder to myself if she cares for me. She's so great to be around."

_I can't really put Norio down for having those kinds of thoughts. Having two significant moments with a girl that strengthens your relationship. Feels like everyone is having some really nice luck lately, particularly myself. Learning that Norio isn't some kind of supernatural being is like a thunderclap in a clear sky. Maybe I can let my guard down around this one._

"Well, I wish you the best with all of that." Kyon said.

"Thanks." Norio nodded, before getting into his food.

"But it makes me wonder..."

"What's that?"

"If I may be blunt..." Kyon began. "I don't really talk to any other guys about these things, but do you find Tsuruya attractive?"

"Of course." Norio shrugged. "Why would you be embarrassed about that?"

"I was just wondering if you were defensive over her."

"She's a great person always being hyper and friendly. All of that support she gave me and that I give her will always make me appreciate her. But her features are definitely a bonus."

_At least I know I can have a safe conversation about girls now. Koizumi and Taniguchi aren't the best people to talk about with regular male thoughts._

"You think so?"

"I don't think you can deny it." Norio honestly said. "Her fang, her forehead, her voice. I find that it all makes her cuter."

"I suppose." Kyon nodded.

"One thing you can't deny though is the hair." He said. "Her hair is insanely long but it's just gorgeous beyond words. Have you ever seen her when she's wearing a ponytail?

Kyon took a big gulp of his water before speaking. "Yes...yes I have." He spoke with a completely serious tone. "And it's amazing."

_**Hahaha...he does think like a man.**_

_I shouldn't be worried about this…too much. Norio is a relaxed guy for the most part. I don't think he is something to be worried about. If he's serious about Tsuruya then he won't have a need to focus on any of Haruhi's plans. The play will go off without a hitch as long as Norio stays close to Tsuruya. But that makes me wonder...if Tsuruya does not care for him...what would happen?_

_Ah, I bet she cares for him. It's not like I'm a master of love._

_

* * *

_

I love having proofreaders. They catch different errors and give me new ideas. Be sure to get one yourself.

For the song, this was actually a last minute thing. It came out recently and when I started listening to it...it was PERFECT. And speaking of that, can you guys see any references here? I do reference a little heavy on one particular anime.

Please Review! Sorry again for being late!


	7. Hysteria

I didn't want to keep you guys in suspense any longer, so here you go. Having proofreaders is nice, but sometimes it can take a toll on your patience. And I don't want to cause anymore delays. I'm already guilty enough for that.

So please, enjoy this chapter. I really think you will be surprised.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

"Alright everyone, this is it!" Haruhi said, shaking with anticipation.

The SOS Brigade was gathered around a set a furniture as their leader stood triumphantly in the center. It was only a few minutes until her time to shine. She wasn't this excited since the time she aired the last movie to a large crowd. Only this time, people could see the true creative talent of the group in action. Haruhi shifted her head across the room, to make sure everyone was fully prepared, or as prepared as certain people in the brigade could be.

"Oi, Yuki! We are performing in a few minutes, so I need you to put down that book and focus!"

The book closed with an uncomfortable shut. "Understood." She responded.

She smiled at her number two. "Are you ready, Koizumi?!"

"Of course." The esper nodded. "You have nothing to worry about, Suzumiya-san. I will perform to my absolute potential."

Haruhi smirked. "That's the kind of answer I wanted! You better do the same, Mikuru-chan!"

"Y-yes! I'll do the best I can!" She squeaked.

"Me too, Harunyan!" Tsuruya said.

The leader was glad that she her club was being so supportive...most of it at least. Her smile started to disappear as she looked at the small couch in front of her with Kyon and Norio. The narrator wasn't paying much attention as he looked to the side, while the singer looked more focused on the snacks requested by the group.

"Pay attention!" Haruhi shouted, snapping the two out of their trance. "I expect nothing from the best from all of my underlings!"

_Underlings?_

"Any screw-up in tonight's performance will result in a penalty, do you understand?" She stared at them.

"Yes, Suzumiya-san." Norio bowed.

"I will, I will." Kyon answered in his normal, somber tone.

"SOS Brigade?" An official who ran the talent show came out. "You have 5 minutes."

"You heard him!" Haruhi shouted. "Everyone get ready!"

The brigade quickly scrambled while Kyon and Norio moved at their normal pace. Everything that the leader put into this story felt like too much to handle. The girls were getting dressed into costumes while Itsuki had to prepare the background and other technical issues. Haruhi took the role as cameraman since she wanted her glory to be everlasting. Even with all of the work she put into this play, nothing in it could soothe Kyon's soul.

_Here we go. Another day where my peers can look at me with uncomfortable faces. Asahina-san will have to deal with stares and more exploitation with her body, but it's the sacrifice that comes with the safety of the universe. I've looked through the script enough times to get the idea of this story. Painting scenery for the viewers won't be as hard as I expected. Only took me a few days to come up with something, like I was some sort of natural._

Kyon stood at a desk position to the side of the stage, behind the curtain. He would be able to see everything going from what the actors were doing or saying. He was given a soundboard to activate any of the time traveler's themes. The two men looked at each other, saying their last words before the big moment.

"Good luck, Kyon." Norio said.

"Thanks, you too." He said.

"You have all of your lines down?"

"Yeah. I've done this before, so I'm good."

"It didn't look like you were very interested."

_Don't tempt me to say anything, Yamada._

"I'm not, but with Haruhi, it's just best to deal with what she says and not take it seriously."

"Makes sense." Yamada nodded.

"I'm not sure why you are pressing me about not paying attention. You were focused on those senbei more than anything."

"It wasn't just the senbei. There was cheese on that tray too."

"So?"

"I asked for smoked cheese."

Kyon raised an eyebrow as he turned around at him. "Why is that important?"

"I heard Tsuruya liked smoked cheese."

"That's kind of...random." He decided to focus back on the setting stage.

"I know, but I'm just going with what I've heard. That's what you do when you try and sway a girl, you find out what she likes." Norio responded in a matter-of-fact manner.

"I'm sure you'll win her over with food. Not like your personality is important."

"Well played, sir." He said, walking away from Kyon to go change.

_Time to start the show or whatever we are going to call this horror._

_Having the power of an alien does have its advantages though. Haruhi wanted to stress realism with this play since we couldn't perform outside of the stage. So we will be hooking up a projector to play a scene of a forest moving at a slow pace. It's all supposed to be timed on a clock, but honestly, in this kind of scenario would everything go exactly as plan? ...Now that I think about it, it would. Either way, Nagato shall be making this a lot easier._

_There will be no lights to blind Asahina, no limits to space or time on the stage, not even annoying, fake looking props to ruin the moment. Everyone's lines will be engraved in their heads. The only one truly doing work...will be me. Man, sometimes thinking about this stuff just ruins the moment.  
_  
"And now, we present our final act! The SOS Brigade's Play: The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina!"

"01!" Haruhi shouted from the side.

_Well, that's my cue._

The curtain rose to show a timid Asahina Mikuru shivering at the audience. She made a light coo, looking around at the stage, hoping something would happen. The background showed a picture of a forest from a movie slowly being panned in the camera. Hearing the sounds of a few of the cast members, Asahina tried to calm herself down while she walked in place.

"This...is another tale about the battle waitress from the future, Asahina Mikuru." Kyon began.

"Being a time traveler comes with many hardships to deal with. The most common one to deal with is handling the fragile space-time continuum. Now, think about that when you have an evil, alien magician is following her. They say that a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado in a different location, but what happens if a bunny-girl isn't there to advertise cabbages? "

That statement made Mikuru to look down at the floor. She was wearing a rather elaborate dress under Haruhi's specific demands. The bottom was in a shimmering white gold cover, with regal patterns, defined by the three gold triangles located in the middle. The top was made of lavender silk with gold shoulders. It was complimented by arm-long white gloves and tiara to match. But like the typical outfit the time traveler wore, a good amount of cleavage could easily be seen through the top.

"Back to what Mikuru is doing, she is currently going through feudal Japan under the rumors that antagonist Yuki was located in this time period. Her main goal was to track down and persuade the ancestor of the esper, Koizumi Itsuki. But Mikuru was at a big disadvantage here. There was no form of technology at all to support her at all. Other than her watch that had the power to jump between centuries, she had no ability to use any of her futuristic tools.

If she's from the future though, wouldn't she have traveled far enough in time to develop some sort of compressed storage unit? It would be easy to hide any of her items in the past, why is she so helpless here? Couldn't she just fast-forward until everything was down to microscopic size? Time travelers are so hesitant of going back and time, but what about going forward in time? Wouldn't that be more beneficial towards mankind? It appears to be viewed as something truly evil. But if a battle waitress can get access to such power, who knows what kind of problems, would spring up.

At least we can believe that during this particular day and age, villagers aren't so friendly to welcome a girl into a village. Even if it were one of Mikuru's charm. She didn't care though, as she needed to finish her mission of eliminating her threat from the time period. Does this mean she is the only time traveler who exists? You think in the future many people would take advantage of this. And if they left it down to one person, why a cute girl? I'm...not necessarily complaining, but it feels like you would want to put this power in the hands of a cute girl super scientist."

"I-I must find my arch-enemy!" Asahina uncomfortably stated, looking around at the audience. "I cannot allow her to cause any harm to the time period!"

"With that statement, Mikuru went off to the nearest village to track down the alien threat. In feudal Japan however, what kind of issues would she face? Will she meet new faces? Will she encounter things like the last movie? And why exactly was she wearing a European-style dress when she's located in Japan? Is there any point to the colors? Either way, please save us you time-traveling beauty! You are our only hope!"

The curtain closed for a short minute, so that the next scene could be set up. It wasn't a large improvement over the last scene, but they were going to introduce another character to move the plot along. Koizumi pushed some items on to the set while Norio got next to Kyon to talk to him about a serious manner.

"Hey Kyon..." He asked.

Kyon made a scowl, as Norio almost talked into the microphone. He turned it off quickly and turns his head. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to ask you a question before I got on stage."

"Make it quick." Kyon nodded.

"Does Mikuru always have that mark on her breasts?"

"It's a mole." Kyon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but why is it star-shaped?"

Kyon was about to respond, but immediately stopped himself. _I've actually never thought of that. It's not common for women to get a mole or two, but why in the world would it be star-shaped? Does the future come with cosmetics that can make your skin irritation look prettier?_

"That's a good question. Now hurry and get on stage."

Norio walked on the stage with the quivering Mikuru as he stood by the newly set-up props. The next scene was to portray the time-traveler entering into a town and meeting up with one of the villagers. It was mostly filled with exposition and dialogue between the two characters, so Kyon did not have to give much of a reaction. The curtain slowly started to rise as the narrator started to talk again.

"Contrary to any normal mission, Mikuru had to get help fighting evil in this time period. Despite having the advantage of superior technology, she did not have the physical strength to deal with fighting...the magician Yuki. She spent several hours trying to find someone to help, until she came to a local village. Keep in mind that some sections of a village were very far from others." Kyon explained.

"Um...what kind of person could assist me in this time period?" Asahina stiffly asked the audience. "What would you use to fight off someone evil?"

At that cue, Norio started to hit a piece of metal with a regular claw hammer. As the sounds of smashing iron filled the stage, Mikuru started to shiver. She slowly approached Norio as she knew the scene had to go on, but she was getting worried that something bad would happen. She could already feel herself forgetting her line as she stood by the poorly-constructed props.

"H-hello?" She asked.

Norio turned her head, acting to surprised. "Oh, hello Miss Pretty Girl!"

"Miss Pretty Girl?" Kyon couldn't keep himself from saying.

"Do you need something? After all, I am a blacksmith."

"I need help in trying to find some enemy."

"Are you looking for the witch?" Norio asked.

"Witch?"

"There's this girl going around with pale hair casting all sorts of crazy spells and taking over people's minds. It's terrible." He said factually.

"D-do you need help in defeating her?"

"Well, we've lost many trying to fight her, but we could sure use your help!"

"If they've lost many people, then wouldn't of Mikuru have failed her mission?" Kyon questioned. "Couldn't she just time travel back to when Yuki first appeared in the time period? And it feels like if this villager lost people against this witch, shouldn't he be more upset? It feels like we've inserted a masochist into the story."

"Take me to Yuki!"

"Hahaha!" Norio blatantly laughed. "You're just a pretty girl! Do you think you can fight someone like her?"

"I believe that's called a contradiction." The narrator stated.

"Well...I know I can!" Mikuru responded. "But, I can't say why. You'll just have to trust me!"

"You have passion. I can accept that! I am a passionate man myself!"

"Why's that?"

"For I am in love with the Queen!"

"Your village is run by a queen?

"The best queen ever, Tsuruya-san!"

"Tsuruya..." Mikuru murmured. "Do you know the queen personally?"

"Not really, for I...am a lowly blacksmith." Norio stared at the audience. "A relationship like ours is something strange, but I do not care. Even though my love for Tsuruya reaches the ends of the Earth, I do not know how she truly feels about me. I want to be with her forever no matter what happens to the two of us! A queen such as her deserves to be happy for the rest of her life. And I shall do that, no matter what my profession is!"

"Did he add on to the script?" Haruhi thought to herself, zooming in on him.

"I'm glad that you can get the Queen's support." Mikuru said.

"There is just one question left un-answered." Norio stated.

"What's that?"

"Can you handle a sword?"

Norio took a clearly plastic sword that was wrapped with duct tape and threw it at Mikuru. She stuck out her arms ready to catch it, but the item came in complete contact with her forehead. As it hit to the ground, Mikuru put her hand on head and spoke.

"Owiee."

"I shall train you to fight Yuki!"

The curtain began to close once again to move on with the next scene, followed by Kyon's Narration:

"Okay, so now the illustrious Asahina Mikuru is going to fight the alien magician by learning how to use a sword. Sounds...plausible. Anyway, the blacksmith, who we forgot to mention as Yamada, is going to join forces with Mikuru to stop Yuki from taking over the time period. Even though it feels like she's already won this battle having slain or mind controlled many people from the village.

In fact, it's a little odd to say that a blacksmith were to fall in love with a Queen. Does a Queen go to him to supply her guardsman with weapons? Or perhaps to forge her a crown? Wait a minute; a village wouldn't really have a queen. How is it that we are mixing up these traditions? We all took the same history class. Either way, I can feel that the alien witch is going to hear about Asahina Mikuru."

Mikuru and Norio walked off to Kyon's side of the stage and prepared for the next set of scenes. They were allowed to take a short break now since the next scene didn't involve them, but the singer kept a close eye on the set.

"You don't have to worry." Itsuki appeared between the two, talking to Norio. "We won't appear for awhile."

"I know. Still, I want to observe so I can get a better perspective of the play."

"When will you appear exactly in the story?" Kyon asked.

"Well, due to time constraints, I really don't know. We may have to fast forward to the climax if the judges say so."

_I'm hoping for that personally. Even if Haruhi may get irritated about the outcome, her thoughts will change when we win the prize. Besides, the only one who suffers in this situation is Koizumi_.

The curtain slowly raised causing Kyon to focus again on the stage. This time it was just Tsuruya standing triumphantly in the far right wearing some very regal red costume. Two men were bowing before her as she looked upon them.

"And now for something completely different. While I assume that Yamada and Mikuru are training, the Queen of this unnamed village is currently going over the matter at hand. But it feels like she may have more fun messing with her subordinates. We can only hope that she will have a moment of peace during these hard times."

"So my loyal subjects, how are the peasants?" Tsuruya asked.

"The witch has kidnapped another hot looking boy." Taniguchi rolled his eyes.

"That makes about ten total." Kunikida added on.

"Shoot! We can'ts let that girl take any more men, nyoro!" The queen said, starting to twitch. "By any chance, did a blacksmith happen to be kidnapped?"

"No. The blacksmith is still working."

"That's good at least..."

"Queen Tsuruya, what should we do to deal with this problem?"

"Train the archers! The biggest disadvantage we have against the witch is that she has megas range!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The two soldiers walked off the stage to allow the queen to contemplate. Too bad for them that she started to laugh very loudly over the absurd script. The cast started to watch on, wondering when she would stop. Kyon started to think about something quickly so that laughing wouldn't take up too much time.

"It seems that Yuki has left the kingdom or village that is, in bedlam. As to why she would be stealing young men is beyond my comprehensions. I can understand why you would want to kidnap an ancestor of Koizumi, but wouldn't she of done that already? In the last story, she met up with him immediately, so there's no need to take all of the kidnappings. I suppose it could work if she wanted to draw him out in the public. No...That'd only work if she had already made demands."

Tsuruya stopped laughing, remembering her next set of lines. She made a quick cough to start her speech.

"Perhaps Queen Tsuruya can inform us about this."

"This witch has caused my kingdom much trouble, nyoro. Kidnapping brings megas trouble to the peasants and nobles. Everyone in this town is dedicated to their craft, and if we were to lose any of them, the village would be ruined. Especially our only blacksmith."

Kyon had the need to point out the inconsistencies once again. "If there was say, one blacksmith or fletcher or merchant, it feels like the village would be doomed from the start. Wouldn't a queen anyway have her own private people? What happens to the poor is much different than with royalty."

"Yamada...my heart longs for you. But I am cursed to soon be married to such a boring man. Your attitude, your passion, and the way you serve others are unmatched. I wish to be with you; even it demands me to lose my crown. To be safely confined to these walls or within your strong arms is tearing me apart!"

"Why must these recruits have to improvise?" Haruhi groaned from the camera.

Norio watched on from sidelines, his face now painted a deep red. His hands couldn't keep away from his hair, which was being twirled constantly. The teenager could almost feel something in his eyes, as he tried to not make noise.

_**Tsuruya...do you truly have feelings for me? Some of those things were not in that script. I want everything you say to be true. Perhaps, I'll need to speak out and confess my feelings for you. If you truly admit it or not, I cannot deny how I feel for very longer.**_

The sounds of clapping came from the right side of the stage. A figure came from the shadow's wearing a magician's cat and appropriately pointy hat. She clapped at a normal rate, showing little emotion.

"That was a pretty speech." Yuki said in a monotone fashion.

"Oh nos! Nagatocc...it's the witch!" Tsuruya said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to control your mind. If I have the queen under my power then no one will question what I'm doing to the young boys I'm kidnapping."

"We're sorry for the questionability of that statement." Kyon said with his head hung low. "We promise to write with more consent to the general audience next time."

"Why are you targeting bishonen?"

"I am searching for one with untapped power. Every single one I have found so far has just been a normal human."

"What's happening?" Koizumi entered the room, trying to act surprised.

"There he is." Yuki pointed.

"No, fiancé!" Tsuruya said, trying to hold back her laughter. "Run! Run away as soon as you can!"

"What is going on here?"

"Look into the eyes of my Star Ring Inferno. Then you will become my slave."

Yuki slowly started to move her arm in the circle, moving the cheap-looking star rod. In a traditional fashion, the two students started to look rather silly. They were gazing into the eyes of the rod like it was the answer to all of life's mysteries. It followed with the two shaking and then standing stiffly. The two walked towards Yuki like zombies as she walked off the screen.

"Allow me to explain. For maximum potential, the mind-control power of the Star Ring Inferno is supposed to work instantaneously. It feels a bit odd because then Yuki could dominate over everything with an iron-fist. Sounds kind of like some anime series. Either way, the queen and the undeserving king to be have been taken control by the magic-wielding alien. What will our battle waitress do? Especially since her newest companion is in love with a mind slave? The fate of the world depends on all of this!"

The curtain closed, causing Haruhi to run up the stage holding a large sign. It said the words "Intermission" on it. She quickly tossed it to the side as she went behind the stage to have a talk with her staff.

And yet, this was only the first act.

* * *

After several scenes of random lunacy...

The stage was now filled with the entire cast. Mikuru and Norio were on the left while everyone else was on the right side of the stage. While the time-traveler looked as timid as usual, her servant's eyes were filled with a white, hot rage. Yuki stared plainly at the two of them before they were about to fight.

"We are now at the final conclusion. The fight of good and mysterious evil has come to its absolute pinnacle. The only real difference between this time and last time were the number of fighters. However, we need to listen closely to the words between the two forces."

"What have you done with Tsuruya!?" Norio asked.

"The queen you so desire is in my control." Yuki flatly said.

"I won't let you take her!"

"Um...Miss Alien!" Mikuru spoke up. "Please release all of your prisoners! Or-or we will be have to take you down by force!"

"I cannot allow that. The power of Itsuki Koizumi is necessary to my purpose."

"Why is that?"

"If I were to expose the secrets of why we need Itsuki, then you would easily be able to sabotage us."

"Sounds...like a cop out." Kyon said.

"No matter that outcome, I will not let you succeed battle waitress. Minions, attack."

Kunikida and Taniguchi scurried towards Norio with their clearly fake swords lifted above their heads. They were shouting in a typical shonen manner while charging the boy. In one quick swoop, the blacksmith pushed himself forward and swiped his blade. Once they passed him, there was a brief pause. The two former guards limply fell to the ground.

"Do you think the likes of them can stop me?"

"I don't believe the most accomplished of samurai can kill two people in one swing. Perhaps if they were coming in the same angle or if you were doing a circular slash, but let's be a little serious here. Actually, I take that back. Drop all serious thoughts you have right now."

"I did not expect for you to have the appropriate level of skill to defeat them." Yuki stated. "However, it is said that you cannot attack those who you truly love." She pointed at Tsuruya.

"Uh..." She said. "I'm megas sorry, but I can't really attack someone I love. Not fatally anyway."

"I order you to attack him."

"Do not worry Yuki-san." Koizumi insisted, lifting his own sword. "Allow me to fight him."

"Isn't that a bit inconsistent?" Kyon pointed out. "Tsuruya had no problems putting Mikuru into a lake, so I don't see why she would have a problem fighting Norio. Well, throwing someone into a lake is not fatal. Though it would be fatal if she could not swim or if the water was cold enough. It doesn't matter though since Itsuki will be the one fighting him."

"Y-Yamada-san! Please do not kill him!" Mikuru pleaded.

"I respect your wishes!" Norio shouted back to his team mate.

"En garde!" Koizumi said, charging at him.

"This isn't fencing." The narrator plainly said.

Yamada and Koizumi immediately clashed their swords together as they were prepared to fight to the end. Each time they would swing, the opposing player would make the appropriate dodge or parry. After every attack, it felt like things were gradually intensifying. Speed, precision, and timing all increased as they started to move across the stage. The illusion of sparks was given off as the two clashed steel together.

"Stupid camera! I need to get this shot!" Haruhi was groaning to herself while she tried to focus in one the two of them.

The battle preceded for a rather long time as the two started to push each other back in forth. In a few cases, they would fight on the stairs or off the stage. The man controlling the lights was having a fun day trying to focus on them. After a lucky attack, Norio pushed Itsuki into a corner. The two locked blades and became inches between their faces.

"You won't win, Yamada!"

"You have no right to speak you mind slave!"

"Against me, you can only go so far!"

"You fool; you'll die as you lived in the flash of a blade!"

Koizumi broke from of the clash and started to advance towards Norio. He pushed him up to higher ground to get the two back on stage. The sword fight was reaching its climax as the two started to jump and duck under various swipes. Their positions were switched with their backs against the opposing forces, but that didn't make little difference. In a quick swing, Koizumi's hands flew up to the air, leaving him completely exposed. Norio slashed at his chest.

"Aghhh...!" Itsuki tried to emulate, walking backwards. He fell to one knee, clutching his uninjured body.

"You left your self open you fool!"

"No! I cannot lose!"

"You shall!"

"Stop!!!" The esper shouted with his full potential.

Just as Norio was about to hit him with the dull end of his sword, something happened. The blacksmith's hands were caught dead upward into the air. Yamada's body started to quiver as he made a loud series of grunts. It looked as if the recently defeated Koizumi was shining in a blue aura. The only thing Norio could do was look at him with his eyes in awe. Mikuru and Tsuruya were doing the same.

"The untapped power..." Yuki said with no change in her volume.

"We should have mentioned this earlier, but if you watched the first movie you would have known that Koizumi Itsuki is actually an esper. He just had not known it for a long time. I wasn't sure if an esper had the power to freeze someone in their position, but the powers are very vague and therefore, unlimited. It's a good thing that Itsuki found this power now or he would simply have been knocked out. Scary."

"And now I shall defeat you!"

Koizumi was absolutely prepared to strike Norio down. He observed over his enemy, trying to find the best way to deliver the killing blow. He pulled his sword by his hip and directly held it above his head. The esper started to charge him on, shouting very loudly.

But the overconfident man did not consider the floor of the stage. It was slightly elevated towards the back that could easily allow the actors to move behind the curtain. His foot tripped upon the wood, causing him to descend to the ground. His sword went down with him as he was going straight towards Norio. But it was unfortunately caught...

...between his large, stage pants. They fell to the ground, just like the esper did not plan at all. His eyes opened up in horror, seeing something he didn't want to see. The poor boy's manhood.

Mikuru recoiled in horror as it was straight in her direction. Kyon's jaw was agape, unsure of the entire purpose of the entire sequence. The audience started to conjure up a series of murmurs. Nothing was clearly stated but there were a series of unpleased looks coming from the audience. The only one not affected was the true villain of the story. She continued to go on with the story.

"Finish him, Itsuki."

_**What is happening!? I...I can't seem to move! Every fiber of my body is trying to get me to cover my shame, but something is very wrong here. The only thing I can do is slowly close my eyes. Do I respect this idiotic, ridiculous film enough to preserve Koizumi's power! Oh, please let these end right now! **_

Itsuki stood up, trying to cover up most of Norio as he spoke to the teenager. "Sorry Yamada-san. You have to die now."

The esper listlessly attacked Norio in the stomach. He slowly fell to the ground on his stomach, to not hurt himself. His head was specifically turned away to not gaze at the audience. Mikuru was cowering away, so much so that she down on the ground with her eyes covered. Tsuruya caught in a flood of emotions, but the top one was laughter. Her cheeks were getting rather noticeable as she bit down on her lip. Kyon needed to step in to stop the insanity.

"On behalf of the SOS-Brigade, I wish to apologize for what just happened now. We seriously did not plan on this to happen. Honest! Do not ask about this after the show is over! Nor you should leave because it is about to end later. Please leave your comments for when you are alone or can be anonymous."

"Y-Yamada!" Tsuruya tried to shout. She was literally turning red from the amount of snickering she was making. The girl fell to her knees and looked at Norio's legs, trying to plead. "The love of my life has been murdered by the hands of another, nyoro! Oh, I cannot dare to watch!" She couldn't help it any longer, her laughter overpowering every sense of her being. "Was this really a part of the script!?"

Norio's body started to shiver at that point. It was like the Grim Reaper's icy touch was about to take him out while he was tied to the wall. His eyes were quickly swelling.

"Curses." Yuki said.

"Wha-what?!" Mikuru questioned, still having her eyes closed.

"The combined power of love and trauma has broken Tsuruya out of her mind control. The same has applied for Koizumi."

As if he just learned about this right now, Koizumi blinked, looking around. "What is going on here?"

"What do you think is going on here!? Can't you see what's happened to everyone?!" The narrator shouted.

"It seems that the power of devotion and love has triumphed over me again. Does it always beat me because I never have truly understood it? Oh well. Asahina Mikuru, do not see this as a victory. We will meet again one day under different circumstances. I must plot in a new location. Again, do not rest lightly. You will be defeated one day." Yuki said, walking off the stage.

Mikuru opened her eye under blurred vision. Between her fingers she could see the various positions everyone was placed in. Lucky for her, her friend was pressed against the ground with nothing to be seen. Tsuruya and Itsuki looked uncomfortable as she had a rather insidious smile and the boy looked confused than ever. He slowly started to stagger, coming to the ground back first.

"No!" The battle waitress said.

In a small amount of time, Mikuru extended her arms to catch Koizumi. She luckily caught him, but the strain of his weight was clearly hurting her. She put him on his knee, as she stared at him lovingly. The newly-found esper had unleashed all of his strength from that final blow. He looked at her with a grim smile with his eyes squinting at her.

"Don't worry, Koizumi." Mikuru said with a rather serious tone. "No one will hurt you now."

"And thus, we have come to the end of to the story." Kyon gulped. "After the sacrifice of Yamada Norio, the space-time continuum had remained stable. Some things have to be done for the universe to be unified. We thank you, Yamada. Your epic fight has kept our lovely battle waitress safe from danger and with her beloved. Either way, the evil known as Nagato Yuki has...disappeared, for now."

The curtain closed with the two mystic humans stuck in each other's embrace.

"Wow, this is rather dark for the series, isn't it?"

* * *

Even though things have started light, we are going into deeper territory. I select my genres for the right reason. Though I may consider doing a one-shot where it's the whole absurd play in it's entirety. I would of added more, but you should only do so much, know what I mean?

For the song, self-explanatory. However, the Muse song has some pretty good lyrics that I believe reflect on Norio's thoughts very well.

Various References here. Feels like some of my old Lucky Star habits are rubbing off on me.


	8. Siva

I know you guys are probably annoyed by how late I am. It's just one of the huge flaws when you reach a part of the story that you haven't planned out. So, I'll leave everything that's related to that at the bottom. Let's just cut to the chase. Here's hoping you enjoy the references.

**Edit:** I made the references and everything else much more understandable so it flows together. And while it doesn't make sense now, it makes sense when the album came out.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

The students of North High had their brains set in one of two modes: silence or incitement. It was no surprise that the SOS Brigade was once again on everyone's minds, but their newest stunt really had people talking. Some of them felt embarrassed because they didn't see the exploitation coming, especially with Suzumiya's sense of entertainment.

A few minutes before the bell rang, Norio snuck into the school trying to avoid confrontation as much as possible. He didn't look ahead or make eye contact with a single soul. With a few seconds to spare, he walked into his classroom, sitting at his seat near the window. The clouds could serve as his sole source of entertainment. Clouds could only be so entertaining however, as his eye glanced towards another side of the room.

He could feel a tremor coming from the classroom with his simple movement. With his head lifted from his desk, he could see everyone trying to act like they weren't staring. It was obvious as trying to hide under a cardboard box. Norio felt a little better, seeing that everyone didn't have the same response. Most of the students were trying to cover their jeering grins, but others had glimmering eyes. The minority felt some sympathy towards the unlucky man. He looked down at his desk, coming to one conclusion.

_**If this experience has taught me anything, it's this - I need to get the hell out of this club.**_

_**My reputation, my confidence, my decency have all been shattered by some bumbling moron. Haruhi had been wearing on my patience from all her demands, but I wouldn't back down. She would not break me because I had Tsuruya or even Kyon to keep me sane. I could take the cosplay and the yelling, but what happened on that stage tells me that the shortest straw has been pulled. **_

_**It just doesn't follow...why do people respect this girl? Even though I asked Mikuru why she would stay, she couldn't respond. I thought it could be love, but it feels like this is deeper. I doubt that talking to them will do any good, what kind of answers could I get from those zombies? She can sing and she can get people talking, but really, how do those qualities command respect? **_

_**Her orders are always like "You will do! What I say! When I say it!" Koizumi and Nagato follow her orders with no question, while Mikuru and I had to do work or else we would get punished. Kyon and Tsuruya only seem to go along with this because they are bored and have nothing better to do. Don't these people know about the importance of clubs? They are for learning or self-discovery, not tedious time consumption. **_

_**My sadness, potentially other people's sadness, is the outcome of hypocrisy. She's bored, but can never do anything productive. She's talented, but refuses to do anything that would nurture her intelligence or beauty. She'd rather waste her life and other people's lives by searching for the paranormal. Somehow, she believes that the best way to contact alien life is to expose teenagers. Am I the only one here who sees something rather messed up? **_

_**Maybe I can talk to Kyon about it, since it feels like he has insider information. Perhaps he's trying to signal to me to get out of the club as soon as I can, so that I don't end up trapped like him. Out of everyone, Kyon feels the least respected by Haruhi and yet he hasn't left the brigade. Is it bribery? Personal history? Blackmail? I heard she got that fancy looking computer by incriminating the computer club. What do I have to do?**_

_**Is there anything?**_

To end that thought, the teacher came through the door ready to cover today's lesson. He wanted to keep the students quiet too, since drama would distract them from classwork. Norio pulled out his history book, hoping not to be called upon or asked any questions. As they started to review over yesterday's work, the teacher looked at the class hoping to get an answer for the first question. One person raised her hand and stood up, ready to speak.

"Sensei! Sensei! I knows the answer!" Tsuruya said.

The singer looked down at his book, thinking his situation over.

_**I know exactly what to do. It's going to be a risk, but the sooner something happens, the better.**_

* * *

A few hours later, many of the seniors finished with their physical education class. Something where people could exercise a muscle aside from the brain would be much easier for them. Norio carefully looked over all of the students who came to class today, not seeing any one of his band mates. They were very dedicated to the cause of music, but they would still follow the intellectual and required standards.

Everyone was at their lockers now, getting ready for lunch. North High had separated all the students at different times so that the staff wouldn't be swamped. Students would only eat with people from a different rank if they were in a club room. Norio breathed to himself, knowing what he had to do. However, when he opened up his footlocker with his uniform, he noticed a very large stack of notes. The boy frowned as he read through all of them over in his head.

_**"You are so indecent!"**_

_**"What the hell is wrong with you?"**_

_**"Mine is five times better."**_

_**"Why weren't you wearing anything underneath?"**_

_**"Suzumiya always delivers on the porn."**_

_**"Wish I had a camera that day."**_

He sighed, knowing these letters were going to continue for a while. At least it wasn't as frustrating in this indirect fashion. Throwing the letters in the trash, he looked into the hallway to see the girls going to their separate changing rooms. Norio clenched his chest as he could feel his heart start to thump.

_**Come on Norio, you know it's come to this. If you want to leave this club, you have to compromise everything. You have to know that all that time spent in the clubroom didn't go to waste. Go on and confess your love while Tsuruya is in her most enchanting state. You will be the most at ease when you see her beauty. The words should come naturally.**_

He stood there until he saw that knee-length green hair pass his way. Even if he was still in his sports clothing, he couldn't wait any longer for the right moment. There was no more time left for waiting as his psyche had dealt with enough pressure and suspense. Just before she went into the locker room, he spoke.

"Tsuruya!" He said.

"Hmm?" Tsuruya murmured to herself as she turned around. "Oh, hey Nori-kun!"

"Hey, would you mind if we talked about something?"

"Sure!"

"Would...would you mind if we talked in private?"

"Not at all." She responded.

_**I have to ease into this. Being blunt won't lead to anything good.**_

The two students walked into an empty classroom not far from the changing rooms where they would teach about driver's safety. It would keep the glaring eyes of the public away from the stars from The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina 01. Norio took a deep breath before looking directly at Tsuruya. He hoped that he could transcend through being more than just a friend.

"Tsuruya, I need to ask." He said, hesitantly.

"What's that?"

"Do...do you enjoy being in the SOS Brigade?"

"Of course!" She was quick to answer. "It's megas fun to spend time with such amazing people like Harunyan and Kyon-kun!"

"Yes yes, it can be." He lied. "What I want to know though is, since you've been with that club longer, is it worth it?"

"Worth it?"

"Is it worth staying in that club?"

"The club may be weird, Nori-kun, but the fun times you have in it will last forever, nyoro."

"That's the problem. I haven't had fun at all in that club. It's just been getting hard to stay there lately."

"Really? After all the fun we had during that play?"

That hit a sensitive nerve with the singer. "Tsuruya, how would I have fun during that play? With what happened to me on that stage."

"That was improv!" Tsuruya spoke quickly.

"What?"

"You knows, with your fancy speeches, I wanted to play along with the scene! I thought that since you were taking your role so seriously, that I should be just like you! Acting like a real performer made the whole audience megas happy. I mean, you took that a step further with Itsuki-kun when you fought against him and you allowed him to take off your pants. I had no idea you were so devoted to entertainment!"

_**She...she really thought all of that was nothing? That the sacrifice was just for fun?**_ _**No, no, Tsuruya wouldn't be like that.**_

"I didn't mean for it to go that far..." Norio said, now starting to avoid eye contact.

"You shoulds be proud, nyoro! Everyone is now going to remember you!"

_**In one of the worst ways possible.**_

"Tsuruya, I don't know if I can handle that."

"Are you sure? Since you want to be famous and alls, shouldn't you adjust to the pressure?" Tsuruya said in a semi-condescending way.

"Not in that way!" He raised his voice. "Working like a dog for someone like Suzumiya isn't going to help me be a better singer!"

"So, what are you saying?"

"I want to leave the SOS Brigade."

Tsuruya felt disenchanted. "Well that's...fine. Why did you need to talk to me about it?"

"Because..." Norio started to choke up. Quickly, he grabbed her hands and held them tightly with his own. He looked directly into her eyes with his shackled soul. "I want you to leave with me!"

_**Do it now, do it now!**_

"Nori-kun..."

"Tsuruya, you should leave the club with me! I can't stand to be in it any longer knowing that everyone will identify us with Suzumiya!"

"But I can'ts, nyoro." She said innocently, slowly releasing her hands from Norio's grip.

"Why not!" He said audibly. "I want to be with you the most, but I don't see a reason for staying in that miserable clubroom!"

"Nori-kun, you are very sweet and you know I'll be your friend." Tsuruya started. "But being with Harunyan and everyone else...it brings me a sense of happiness that could never be replicated. It can be megas tiring to deal with them, but in the end I know that it's all worth it."

Tsuruya felt as if she said enough and started to walk back to her changing room. She suddenly felt a chilling presence as her friend's hand latched onto her wrist. The two of them stood like stone statues as Norio attempted to say some last, desperate words.

"Tsuruya..." He said with misty eyes and a lowered head. "Don't leave me."

"I'm sorry." Tsuruya turned around to smile at her friend's discolored face. She placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. "There are just some things we ares obligated to do."

Norio felt completely destroyed as he watched Tsuruya go back into the ladies' locker room. He couldn't bear to let any other men see him in such a vulnerable state. He stormed back into the physical education room and locked the door. His back pressed against the wall as he slowly slid down to the ground. His hands at his eyes and his confidence mutilated, the only thing he could do was think.

* * *

After a long period of mourning, Norio shambled from his physical education class like a zombie. All of that time to get closer with the one he cared for had been wasted. Not just wasted, but desecrated with how the student body saw him now. He placed his hand on his forehead to think and to keep people from seeing his face. The singer took a turn outside because he had one last chance to be accepted.

His band...his trustworthy band would still look after him, especially in this time of need. Perhaps he wouldn't need to rely on Tsuruya's love if the support of his friends was strong enough. Norio's mind started to wander off as he thought about the people he wanted to make music with. His dangling hair was once again being tasseled by his fingers. He felt his foot trip against a step as he just noticed that he was outside of the music building.

_**Can't jump in on them just yet.**_

Norio leaned against the windowed double-doors to see Unstability talking to each other. His eyes hovered around the glass to try and get a good look at everyone. He pressed his ear against the wall after a quick peek.

_**This is new.**_

Inside of the club room, the mood was rather light.

"So Wrathchild, I see you changed your hair." Daiki noticed.

"You haven't been paying attention until now?" She snapped back. It looked mangled more than a regular haircut. Her once long, blonde twin-tails had disappeared and her hair was now much shorter. The top part of her scalp leaned to one side like thousands of blades being directed by a magnet. It wasn't like a mohawk or anything ridiculous, but it did look rather shredded. What was really peculiar about it was that it had long sides, similar to their former singer's hair. The only difference is the right looked much longer than the left.

"I don't think we were expecting it, is all." Masato said.

"I like it. Looks like the sign of a rebel girl." Tetsu said nonchalantly.

"Exactly." The girl claimed. "Twin-tails aren't bad, but they are just a girly stereotype. We always have long hair and it's just kind of boring. You either have extremely long, decorated hair or plain short hair. Don't people know you can make short hair look good?"

"If ladies have short hair, they'll dye it." The bassist said, having dyed his goatee before.

"Yeah, but that's kind of boring. A Japanese girl who dyes her hair, I've never seen that." Wrathchild rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you will be a trailblazer for that kind of stuff." Masato suggested.

"Mmm, yes." She fantasized. "Thousands of fans chopping up their hair as a sign of adoration. It will be glorious!"

"Lucky you. I could never be defined by something like that." Tetsu said, thinking about his boring black mop.

"Drummers are never known for hair." Daiki said. "Sure Tetsu, your heroes have gone through many different looks, but that isn't what made them noticeable."

"That's true." He nodded. "Part of me is wondering though how often drummers will get recognized in the metal genre."

"How so?" Masato asked, putting his hand through his hair.

"Well, bands can be known easily for their guitarists, singers and even bassists. But with drummers, you have to be a visionary to be truly known."

"It's messed up, I know." Wrathchild nodded, but still felt rather uninterested. "You guys do help make great performances and carry the band along, but drummers don't get noticed that often. That's why drummers get replaced so often."

Tetsu rose up his fist to yell, but Daiki interrupted. "I think what Wrathchild is saying that while drummers are important, they aren't known too often for being great drummers. Many are known more often for being celebrity-types."

"That is sadly true." The drummer put his head down.

"Speaking of celebrities..." The guitarist interrupted. He wanted to change the subject before people's prejudice would really start to show. "Have you listened to that band's new album?"

Various nods came from the band. Even Norio who was listening through the doors acknowledged it.

"It was okay." Daiki said. "I mean, it's them returning from their roots but it doesn't blow me away like those early four albums."

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Wrathchild agreed.

"I'm divided on it." Tetsu explained. "While it has some great tracks, other times it's kind of okay. Like, I feel like the band is sitting too much on the line between heavy metal and hard rock. They've had years in both but it really shows with this one. I mean, they still got it. They just need to go completely to the metal side."

"I think it's great." Masato defended. "I think you guys are just a bit too hooked up on what is popular and receives play on the airwaves. The might not have the same revolutionary bassist and Ulrich might not have the same leg power he used to, but they still do their damnedest."

"It wouldn't be that bad if they didn't play the same damn songs from the same damn album on the radio?" The drummer explained. "They have that mentality where the album that sold the most clearly has to have the best tracks on it!"

"I hate that mentality too." The classical guitarist said. "But to me, the majority of the tracks were great and really had nice sound to them. As to why they want people to listen to the blandest of the bunch...is ignorant."

"It does signify though that the band is progressing." Daiki said.

"Yeah, compared to that last album though, this is godly." Wrathchild said bitterly.

"Well I..." Masato tried to say something positive.

"An album with guitar solos is **not **a heavy metal album."

"Its name shall not be spoken." Tetsu said.

"Seriously." The girl said. "The day I like that album is the day I start saying things like Moe Moe Kyun."

Norio smiled listening to his band talk on about menial topics. It was one of the joys he had in the music room, having actual conversation. He wanted to enter really badly, but it was too soon to do anything. The most he could do was watch, causing him to peak through the windows once again. He squinted his eyes to try and get a better view on Wrathchild's new hair.

Daiki felt a bit better knowing that everyone had reached an agreement with their topic. Music discussions can get rather nasty if un-moderated. Just as he was going to get out his bento, he caught a black blur in the windows. He made an audible murmur causing the rest of the band to take notice. The singer quickly ducked so that they would ignore him. Daiki sighed, standing from his chair.

"I'll talk to him."

Once he heard footsteps, Norio started to panic. They had noticed him so they are going to put him on the spot over what happened last night. He started to shiver from the verbal thrashing he would get. The door creaked open.

"Norio?" His friend asked.

The singer turned around. "Daiki..."

"Let's talk." He said, blocking the door.

"Oh, okay." Norio said.

"Why are you spying on us?" Daiki said in snarky fashion. "Do you want Suzumiya to annoy us again?"

"Things have taken a turn for the worse."

"Yeah, I heard about what happened." Daiki looked away.

"I realized that...that was the final straw." He spoke slowly.

"I don't think anyone could have handled that."

_**You are telling me.**_

"My dignity is not worth that." Norio began. "It's not even worth it for Tsuruya's love. Hell, I don't even know what she really wants. But the one thing I do want is to be with the band."

"I'd love to let you back in Norio."

_**Oh hell...**_

The bassist continued. "It's just that, your dignity can't deal with being exposed like that, but what about the band's dignity?"

"Huh?"

"What Tetsu did for you when we had to deal with the SOS Brigade, that was true friendship and honor. And what happened? You didn't fight back against Haruhi. I can respect the fact that you love Tsuruya and want to be with her, but is that worth it?"

"It's not!" Norio exclaimed.

"Well, Tetsu and Wrathchild don't feel that way. After you gave up after that drum battle, they were pretty pissed off. We had hope that in the next few days, you would have responded or gotten out of the club, but it didn't happen. And then the rumors of you doing productions with the Brigade? I mean, that was enough for them to doubt you."

"What about Masato?"

"He's shook up about it too, but in a different way. It's like he knows something."

"Well, can't I talk about it?" Norio advanced, only to have Daiki push him back.

"Not now, it's too soon. I mean, they know about what happened to you, but they don't necessarily care all that much. It's a shame, but Wrathchild thinks you deserved it."

_**No...No...This can't be.**_

"I have to talk to them!" Norio said.

"Dude, you are being too dramatic about this. It'll be fine."

"How do I know what they are thinking! They could be better off without me, for all I know!"

"I'll talk them over with it, okay?" Daiki affirmed. "It's just that at this time, we can't help you at all. It's hard to tell what will happen at this point."

From that, he turned around ready to go back to his friends, but he felt something pulling him back. Norio attached himself to his best friend's leg hoping to stop him.

"Daiki! Please let me back! I don't care what I have to do, but I don't want to have to deal with the torture for another day! I just want a place where I can feel safe and secure!"

The bassist stomped his foot, making Norio release his hands.

"I don't want anything to happen either." He said calmly.

"Can't you convince them to let me back in?"

"Norio, we can only do two things now." He dismissed. "Hope and pray."

Daiki walked back into the room with his best friend still lying on the floor. While his poor brain was only broken after what happened, it had now been officially split into two pieces. He had hoped that his band mates would be more accepting after what had happened, but they felt completely strained on the subject. Norio couldn't completely put the blame on them, since he did leave them. Love has destroyed bands before.

He just laid there, thinking to himself.

_**Please, please let this all be some terrible nightmare. Please? **_

* * *

The minutes seemed like hours as the unfortunate teenager sat in the SOS Brigade's clubroom. It was surprisingly empty, with all of the other members doing some inane task. Norio's face was completely glued to the table, with the laptop near his head and plugs in his ears. Music was his one last oasis for happiness and it was something no one could take away from him.

_**There's nothing left to do but wait. Maybe I can make myself feel a little better by finally talking to those other members of the brigade. I don't care what they tell me, but I need satisfaction.**_

Even though he was listening to very affirming classic rocks, the various conflicts he dealt with were still piercing through his ears. The denial and uncertainty were gnawing away at his psyche. It's a common occurrence to deal with depression, but to forcibly go to the center of all of it? For about eight hours? He just sat there, listening to music, feeling that he would not move from that spot.

"Yo..." A voice said from the door. Lucky for Norio, it was a friendly party.

Kyon looked across the room to only see a depressed singer. It was a bit surprising for him to not even see Nagato inside. Kyon put down his books as sat down next to the poor, wretched soul. Norio couldn't even hear him enter the room with his music pumping so loudly.

_Time for me to play councilor. I mean, Asahina alone has dealt with this like three or more times. Honestly, how did I not prepare for this? At least I can feel a bit more sympathy this time around. It's kind of hard to empathize for someone who has their sex organs on their chest. But this time, maybe I can be a bit more understanding. I can't say I'm going to enjoy this though. _

"Hey, Yamada?" Kyon asked.

He lifted one earbud from his head. The music was so loud that he could hear it even in that very compressed form. There was no response.

"Are you okay?"

Norio gave incomprehensible whine from his muffled face.

"I'll take that as a no." The singer just stayed in his position with his arms covering his head. "Listen, I know it's gonna be hard, but you really should talk about this with me. I'll help you out."

_What are you dealing with is nothing. Trust me; there are different levels of pressure._

Norio lifted his face from the table to stare at a concerned Kyon. Even though he looked rather uninterested, it felt like he was a veteran to the teenaged drama. He stared at Norio's uniform, seeing that it was riddled with wet spots around the neck, shoulders and chest. He even had a difficult time making eye contact with him, causing him to look at the bright windows.

Kyon sighed, knowing this was a whole new level of sadness.

"I should have listened..." Norio squeaked out.

"Listened to what?" Kyon asked.

"My gut. And my friends. And anyone else with a functioning brain."

_Here comes the waaambulance heading to the hospital._

"You should have done your research before joining. I know you love Tsuruya, but this SOS Brigade is like a full time job."

"You know..." Norio said with a hint of anger in his voice. "I'd really love to know why exactly we have to handle everything in this peculiar way. Why do we have to try so hard to make a name for ourselves with this club, yet hate anyone who tries to give us attention?"

"I can't really stop Haruhi from what she does."

"Why not!"

_Oh Norio, I'd love to tell you why we have to treat things this way, but it's really best you do not know about it._

_"_You just don't want to know what happens when she gets angry."

The singer became mortified. "Does she attack people?"

_Is fondling a form of attack?_

"No..." Kyon said slowly, holding back his words. If he fed Norio's dislike of the brigade, things would only end disastrously.

"I don't want her to lay a finger on Tsuruya!"

"You still are concerned about her, aren't you? Is that what is holding you back?"

Norio started to shake from hearing her name. He put his fingers over his eyes as he spoke. "Kyon, I have no purpose in this brigade anymore. She doesn't love me. I don't even know what she really wants."

_You know, I never actually have spoken to Tsuruya enough to know about things with the brigade. She says she loves to be in it because it makes her and Haruhi happy, but she only came around every day when Yamada was here._

"I think she loves you."

"What makes you said that?" He said skeptically.

"Listen, Tsuruya-san is great." Kyon explained. "But with her...personality, I don't think she takes a lot of things seriously."

"You think I don't know that?" Norio snapped. He felt bad seeing Kyon was unfazed from his response. "I'm sorry..."

"Maybe because she doesn't take things seriously, she doesn't realize that you love her. Sometimes you can't go for the flowery, scenic route and you have to be direct. It's kind of like when a girl has to confess to a guy, guys are always confused when they are given an indirect confession."

Norio looked back into Kyon's eyes to see that he had knowledge on this subject. He was surrounded by three girls, every day for about a year, so maybe he had learned some things for them. And the idea wasn't impossible, knowing that Tsuruya never had a boyfriend before. Just legions of people she considered to be friends. It could be that she saw everyone at the same level so that she could be with more people.

"I suppose you are right..." He nodded.

"There you go." Kyon said. "I know things are bad, but seriously, they could be worse."

"Please, let's not focus on that."

"Okay, okay. Just know that if you are having issues, I have no problem talking to you."

Norio took a pause before responding. "Thank you Kyon. You don't know how much I needed this. I just feel like, as a guy, I've gone through the worst."

"I completely understand. Not everyone in the brigade can take what happens."

"I mean, I do want exposure like that...just not in that way."

_May wanna think about your other options._

"I don't think any of us expected that to happen."

"No one should have to go through that. Even if Koizumi had to go through such a trial, I would help him out."

_Actually with Koizumi's personality, he would gladly show his privates if Haruhi asked him to._

"Trust me; things will be alright from this day forward." Kyon smiled back at him.

Even though he didn't enjoy being the mediator, he felt something different in Norio. Since he was someone who wasn't obliged to maintain the stability of the universe, he could understand him. Norio felt a bit more relaxed as he focused back on his music. But things were much less tense now as he fixed his posture and looked at the laptop with a degree of ease. It felt like things would mend themselves slowly.

Though, not everyone likes to move slowly.

The door slowly creaked open causing Kyon and Norio's heads to turn. But their expressions dropped, seeing that it was Haruhi who had entered into the clubroom. Within seconds, Haruhi's cool eyes immediately filled with the blaze of hellfire. She dashed towards the upperclassman and lifted him by his collar, separating him completely from his laptop. The singer could only look at her in awe because she was staring at him with pure vitriol.

"Norio!" She shouted.

_Oh crap, does this mean I'm gonna have to kiss her again?_

* * *

Okay, to non-story issues, I did get rather distracted by real life due to college. I recently got accepted into a new college that I'm going to transfer to, but as a transfer student, I had a much smaller window of opportunity to do anything. Plus, we've had some hellish storms lately so that's been a pain for communication.

With the song choice for the title, I really wanted to use a Pumpkins song, but I had a hard time choosing between Siva and Zero. Zero is great because they do reflect on Norio really well and I enjoy the whole "_emptyness is lonelyness..._" part, but Siva really captures the full chapter as a whole. That's why I went with it.

Thanks for waiting guys! Please Review!


	9. Jesus Christ Pose

Hey people, things have been really crazy for me this whole month with things involving my family and my otakudom, but I wanted to release a chapter before going out on a long trip today. (Wink wink if you guys see the date)

With my story, I feel kind of disillusioned because of what happened with my last chapter. Which I can see why it didn't get too much attention, but I'm hoping I can turn it around. My writing skills feel a bit rusty, but thanks to some inspiration in the form of "Meet The Suzumiyas," I believe I can start writing again with my mind ready to focus.

I also have to give respect to my proofreader KeRose, since he really came through for me this week. Anyway, on to the chapter.

**I'm a bit too tired for the disclaimer, so look at the last chapter's for one. In Haruhi related news though, they really shouldn't do this Endless Eight stuff with fans in mind. Edits have also been made to due to fail on my part.**

**Never rush a chapter kids, you'll make big mistakes  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Jesus Christ Pose**

Haruhi kept Norio in her abnormally strong grip as she prepared to tell the world about his incompetence. She was used to the occasional brigade member under-performing, Kyon, but what happened at the auditorium? To think something simple like that would leave the audience and judges in horror. It wasn't like the things she did in those movies before offended anyone.

_Here she goes._

"Norio, do you have any idea what you cost the brigade from your mistake?!"

**_My pride?_**

"Your mistake has cost the brigade precious money and recognition from the school! All of that time, effort, and money has been wasted just because you couldn't keep your clothing on!"

At that moment, she let go of him, pushing his back against the wall. He was a bit shocked from her response, but he never stayed long enough at the school to know how the rest of the Brigade felt.

"I...I'm sorry..." He stammered.

"Do you think sorry is good enough to make up for what you've done!?"

"It was a simple mistake!"

_It's these kind of things that makes me wonder exactly how much control Haruhi has over people. There's the fact that she is in control of everything, but only subconsciously. So if she wants to win, she will. However, the fact that Norio had to suffer during the presentation is questionable. Is she sadistic? _

_...It's not a bad theory, but still, it's strange that these issues aren't straightforward. Does there have to be conflict with all of Haruhi's issues so that she doesn't get bored?_

"That simple mistake, as you call it, has nearly ruined us! I should have known that someone blinded by love wouldn't help us!"

Bringing that up, the singer was quick to defend himself and show his teeth.

"It wasn't my fault! Koizumi was the one who tripped on stage and exposed me!"

"Did someone call my name?" The esper asked, walking through the door. Norio pointed at him with whip-like speed.

_You have impeccable timing, you know that?_

"Koizumi! It's your fault I had to go through all of this!"

"Oh, the play?" He said sounding like he almost forgot what happened. "Ah yes, I do feel sorry about what happened Yamada-sempai. I didn't expect any of that to happen. It was just so...fast."

_I'm starting to wonder if Koizumi ever focuses on anyone else other than Haruhi. I'm starting to wonder if he is her kinder, cross-gender counterpart. Ugh, bad image._

"You're sorry!?" Norio said. "Do you think that makes up for what I had to suffer through?!"

_Hypocrisy is all around me!_

"You big baby!" Haruhi said, pressing her fingers against her head. "Do you know how many times I've shown off Mikuru-chan's beauty to the school?"

_Beauty yes, but was it right? Of course not. It got us a great computer, but the level of discomfort it caused to Asahina-san is unforgivable. If you were a man Haruhi, the things you would learn…_

"Do you think Mikuru feels proud for that?" Norio defended.

"Any contribution to the brigade is a great honor! Mikuru-chan may not appreciate what we use her for, but you won't believe what kind of things we've accomplished with her talents! You, Norio, have only taken us down! Your lack of preparation made us lose too much, especially the prize money!"

_So that website I created and the money I've spent isn't honorable?_

"Now now," Koizumi intervened. "I can understand that Suzumiya-san is annoyed because of that miscalculation on our behalf. Yamada-sempai, however, is distraught because our mistake has directly affected his social and personal life."

"Exactly!" Norio spoke up.

"Quiet!" The brigade chief ordered. Norio complied by sliding down the wall, not looking at them. "Kyon, how do you feel about this?"

_I'd really like to not get involved for once. At least I can keep this simple._

"I can sympathize for him. All men feel uncomfortable from this kind of thing."

Haruhi didn't look very convinced from that kind of answer.

"Didn't you say that the committee would consider giving you the money anyway?" The normal one brought up. "Even with what happened, didn't they love the play?"

"That is true…" She recalled. "They did consider giving us the prize money since the performers just couldn't compete. They were pathetic for the most part."

_I feel bad for those bands who tried to perform. Mysterious technical difficulties shouldn't be a reason to fail._

"Fine." Haruhi briefly said. "I'll go convince the committee into giving us the money. There's got to be enough evidence to prove that we are worthy. While I go off, Koizumi, you keep an eye on this pervert here. Make sure he doesn't leave this room."

"Of course, Suzumiya-san."

The brigade chief's power returned as she looked at Norio. "Don't you dare try anything funny! If it turns out that they deny us because of what you've done," She closed up on his face. "I will assure the death penalty myself!"

Haruhi slammed the door as she walked out into the hallway. The singer sat down to the ground as he contemplated over his fate. He severely doubted that the judges would cut her any slack. As he covered his face in shame, Kyon and Koizumi glanced at each other. The esper made a signal to the door so he could talk. The two walked out while Kyon crossed his arms together.

"So, are we going to have to worry about this?"

"You know Suzumiya-san. No matter what happens, she is destined to get her way. Despite the misfortune of Yamada-sempai, the committee will heed her wishes."

"Do we have to worry about Norio?"

"My sources tell me that Yamada is not a part of any of the major conflicting affiliations. The Organization believes that we should have him leave the brigade soon. We believe that Suzumiya may question it at first, but will quickly forget about him."

_At least my sympathies for him are true._

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"He is in a rock band, correct? We should have them accept him once again after what he has been through."

"That's all well and good, but what about Tsuruya?" Kyon brought up. "He still is rather serious about that."

"Sadly, we can't observe what her feelings are. I could always ask Asahina-san."

_Which will be responded by the traditional "Classified Information."_

"Okay then. I'll go talk to them." He shrugged.

"Thank you, Kyon." Itsuki said, walking back into the clubroom.

Kyon sighed, knowing once again that he would have to pick up the pieces for the sake of the universe. He hoped that the music club had not completely ostracized the presence of the SOS Brigade.

* * *

After a few short minutes, Kyon arrived at the doors of the music club. This time though, he was alone and the possibility of rage-filled students was something to consider. Usually when he was involved with internal affairs, Haruhi had this strange aura about her. People couldn't make any sudden movements and they would have to take her seriously. But this time, he would have to pay close attention to his surroundings.

He slowly opened the door so he could approach the group in a non-threatening matter. But as his foot entered the room, he immediately stopped upon hearing the ranting of angry teenager.

"Can you believe that crap!?" Wrathchild screamed.

The small guitarist stood from her seat with her fist slammed against the table. Two of the members just glanced at her without much care as she was prone to point out the flaws in Japan's education system. On the other hand, Daiki paid close attention to her anger because he had gone through the same issues. He decided to voice his opinion to get her concerns.

"It's stupid, but it's just one of those things you have to accept."

"Why should I?!"

"So you don't get suspended." Tetsu said.

"Shut up!" She said. "Your haircut looks like a penis, so there's no reason for you to speak!"

"Hey!" He defended himself. "This is the public obscenity cut!"

"Let's not fight." Masato said, getting the two musicians to sit down. "I think it's also moronic that you got moved to the back of the class. And it wasn't even because you were yelling or acting up."

"I know!" Wrathchild said. "They told me that my hair was disrupting to the class. How is hair disruptive!?"

"For your hair, no idea. For me, they told me my shaved head can be somewhat distracting."

"I can admit that my hair style is to make a statement. But are you telling me that no other hair style in this school makes you think?"

"How so?" Tetsu said.

Wrathchild slapped her forehead from the drummer's thick skull. "Here's a prime example. That girl Norio loves? Her hair is down to her damn ankles!"

"That's a good point." Masato agreed, having long hair, but not that insanely long.

"If you look at that girl's hair, your head is going to immediately fill up with silly thoughts. Does her hair get dirty when she sits down? How long does she have to shower and comb that stuff? Has she ever tripped over her own hair? What would happen if she looked bald?"

"People probably give her a pass because she's so feminine." The bassist suggested.

"She isn't the only one with weird hair..." Masato mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing."

Kyon took this time to enter the large room while they were calmed down. The second his entire body was in the room, Daiki quickly turned his head in the brigade member's directions. The rest of Unstability looked at his with different responses. Wrathchild and Tetsu looked ready to strike, while Masato just glanced at him.

_The second they charge, I go out the door._

"I just wanted to talk." He suggested.

"You dare trying to come in here and talk with us after what's happened!?" The thrash guitarist shouted.

"Wrathchild, hold it. I'll handle this." Daiki stated.

She complied by angrily sitting down in her chair. The bassist walked towards Kyon as he began to tense up. His physique looked to be very good despite his activities. He pointed out of the room, signaling for Kyon to follow him outside. The brigade member started to roll his eyes, as he felt like a new series of private conversations was going to start all over again. Once the doors closed, they immediately got to talking.

"What are you doing here?" He asked politely.

"I needed to talk to you guys about what's happened with Yamada."

"We've heard about it. I'll just say that it sucks."

_Oh good, we are cutting to the chase for once._

"I think that for Yamada's sake, you should let him hang out with you guys again. If he stays for any longer, Haruhi is going to turn him into dust."

Daiki sighed from his response. He should have expected something like that from the one clear-headed member from that club. He looked out the windows to the music room as he stared at his band mates.

"I really want Norio to come back to the band. The issue is that everyone else is so angry, that my hands are tied."

_Ugh, I guess I'll have to work towards a new angle._

"How so?"

"Listen, Norio and I have been best friends for a long time. We had the idea to form this group and we'll stick around as musicians until the day death or crime is our only other options. I care about him enough to understand what's going on. The issue is just that everyone is so angry right now that we can only wait."

"They are angry? Are you sure I can't talk with them."

"It's only Tetsu and Wrathchild who are angry. But they've had personal issues with this that made them doubt Norio. You saw how that one girl humiliated him. Masato, I don't know. He's been acting like a zombie now, focusing only on his guitar playing. It's impressive, but you can feel when someone isn't putting their soul into playing an instrument."

_I guess Yuki is better at acting like a human than I thought._

"Can things get better?"

"I'll be honest with you." Daiki said. "We aren't all that great without a singer. Instrumental music can only take you so very far. We need him because he has the vocal power of a thousand archangels. They will cool down and accept Norio. It's just gonna take time and some real ass-kissing. You know how that is, right?"

_More than you imagine._

"Yeah, yeah." Kyon nodded.

"Does that help?"

"Yeah, that's all I wanted to know."

Kyon walked out of the building feeling a little confident from that experience. It felt much smoother and less painful on his psyche than the normal one-on-one conversation. Daiki quickly went back into the room with his band mates, who wanted to know what was going on with that experience. They have gone through enough unexplained stuff for one day.

"What's with him?" Masato asked.

"Oh, he just wanted to know about the website."

The three accepted the answer and decided to go back to their business of reading through music magazines. Daiki breathed a sigh of relief, as they took the lie. He just hoped that guy could help him out in this delicate situation.

* * *

The free period was about to end as Kyon arrived back at the SOS Brigade's clubroom. As he entered inside, he noticed a few pleasant changes. Yuki was sitting in her corner reading a new story she picked from the library. Mikuru was inside and fully changed into her maid's attire as she tended to her teapot. She turned to see her friend in the doorway.

"Ah, Kyon-kun." She said with a smile. "I just finished brewing some tea, would you like some?"

"Y-yes." He said.

_Your tea shall cleanse my soul of all sadness, Asahina-san!_

Kyon sat down as the time-traveler gracefully put the teacup in front of him and slowly poured. Watching the tea going into the cup, he couldn't help but notice that Norio was still stuck in his own little corner. That threat Haruhi made on him really weighed heavily on his mind. Once Mikuru was done pouring, Kyon was quick to indulge in the drink. He took a moment to think over the situation.

_It feels like Yamada can get out of the SOS Brigade without too much trouble. His band needs him and it doesn't feel like he wants to be in here anymore. Even though he has been sticking out for Tsuruya, I don't think he can be here for much longer. I guess he's lucky that the universe isn't dependant on him doing anything important. Unless that thing is making loud music._

_The only thing to consider with this is Haruhi. She's gonna get that money no matter what, but the question is how she's gonna treat Norio after this. Is the money enough? It's nice, I'd certainly want it, but I don't know how she'll take it. I really don't know her financial situation anyway, since it feels like all of us are using the money for the club. Haruhi just has the drive to get everything done. It's nice to have that kind of persuasive power, but there is a cost._

_Tsuruya is another big question that needs to be solved. I've known her for about a year, so why don't I know anything about her? She's rich, nice, eccentric and has a fang. Not the most common traits, but her involvement with the brigade is something I still don't know. How is that? Lately, the only thing I've been reminded about her is how she's great girlfriend material and that hair of hers makes wonder beyond-words pony-tail...why am I even thinking of girlfriends in the first place?_

_This stuff just needs to get straightened out because it feels like things have hit a certain point. I should learn just about everything now with what is going on in this universe of mine._

Just as Kyon laid his tea down, the door creaked open. Everyone, excluding Yuki, turned to see Haruhi walking into the door with her eyes fixated on her hands. She held a crisp 10,000 yen bill within her fingertips. She peered her eyes around the room to see her loyal brigade at ease. Norio still was stayed on the ground. The room shook with movement as Haruhi spoke.

"Mikuru-chan, make me a cup of tea."

"Of...of course!" Mikuru said, getting a new cup ready.

"Oi, Norio." She stated. The boy looked up at her. "Stand up." He responded.

"Yes, Suzumiya-san?"

"Do you see what's in my hand?"

He made a quick glance. "Yes."

"This is hard-earned money." She stated. "Money that we nearly lost due to you."

"I know."

"However, due to new found evidence, we won this because of you."

"What?" Norio said, doing a double-take.

"The judges came to an agreement that while you had undressed yourself during the performance, everyone working in the play from Koizumi, to Mikuru and even Tsuruya made the whole experience worth it."

Kyon looked away from that statement.

"Many of them thought you did the best, even with that little incident.

The singer was stunned. "I...don't know what to say."

"Perhaps you should be a bit happy, eh? Your brigade leader can charm just about anyone in this school."

"I suppose."

"So even though you put us in jeopardy, you somehow helped the SOS Brigade in succeeding."

"Thanks." He said, perplexed.

"I guess it's just something I had not expected. It's what happens when you hire someone out of boredom."

_Did she just say what I thought I said?!_

Norio's eyes shot wide open from that remark. His organs all accelerated as those words shot back and forth between his ear canals. He started to gaze around the room at everyone. Kyon and Mikuru seemed to have open jaws from what Haruhi had just said. He peered back at his brigade leader who just stood there with a satisfied grin on her face.

"Wh-what did you say?" Norio said, with a slight cracking in his voice.

"I hired you out of boredom." Haruhi said factually. "You aren't anything special; I just thought it would be interesting to have someone like you here for a while. Wow, was I surprised.

**_Is she really saying this?!_**

_Shut up! You're ruining this!_

"You just took me in for entertainment? It wasn't my talent or care or...anything like that?"

"No, not really." She shrugged. "I thought it would be interesting to keep you in because you were such as romantic. And that was indeed an experience. To see how love really blinds people."

"You really think that love is evil?" Norio responded.

"It's a mental sickness!"

_I can hear bombs falling from the sky._

Norio dropped to his knees causing Haruhi to back away from him. His hands pressed hard against the floors as emotions started to rush through his veins. Kyon looked at the boy in panic, thinking this was going to go horrible awry. After a loud snort from Norio and his hand rubbing across his face, one could only hear words.

"Tell me something, Haruhi."

"What's that?"

"Are you ever happy?" He stated, standing now and deeply looking at her.

"What kind of question is that?" Her smirk disappearing.

"Why, would someone so ungodly wonderful and perfect be so bloody unhappy."

Haruhi gritted her teeth. "Are you talking about me?"

"Damn right!" He spoke. The words caused Mikuru to tremble.

"What do you mean, I'm not happy!? I'm the happiest person in this entire school!"

_Seriously? We do hang out with Tsuruya-san..._

"If you are so freaking happy, then why in the world do you have to make other people suffer!?" Norio said, with rage dripping from his teeth.

"Suffer?"

"Do you know what kind of mind-numbing stuff that you made me and everyone else in this brigade goes through?"

"Why are you so dramatic? We have no problems! Just because everyone had to see your privates, doesn't mean that you have any right to talk back to me!"

"Are you insane?! Every single thing you've done involves using us as little puppets. You make Mikuru dress up for your own amusement! You've done the same to me, and cause Kyon to do all the dirty work for you! Just because those two don't bother to speak up for themselves, doesn't mean they aren't thinking about how much of a hypocrite you are!"

"Hold on a second!" Koizumi interfered.

"Back off, Koizumi!" Haruhi said. "I'm going to handle this on my own."

Haruhi grabbed Norio by his collar once again and came within a few centimeters of his own face. Never had anyone spoke out against her like that. Her eyes were filled with fire, so hot that they could exist within the core of an enraged sun. She started to shake as she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"Now you listen to me! What I do with the brigade is none of your concerns! You are just a worthless potato with no thoughts of his own! Your brain is clouded by your own sense of stupidity and false hope!"

"My stupidity?! Do you really think that I'm the blind one here? Am I the one who decided to be misanthrope because I didn't feel special enough? Did I decide that humanity was pointless, so I could believe in moronic superstition? Who cares about what anyone else thinks, they are all idiots! That's the right idea."

Haruhi pushed him to the wall. How could he have known that information? She pressed his arms against the wall with tremendous power. If he was going to be mean, she decided to do the same.

"I cannot honestly believe that one man can be so pathetic." She said with a growl.

"Pathetic?"

"Yes. Pathetic. It's amazing to see that someone who looks like a smart person could be blinded by the concept of love. Something that makes people claw out their eyes and walk across the earth, just for pointless devotion. And a little baby like you who thinks that love is this magical feeling that makes everything better, disgusts me!"

"Devot-"

"Do not speak! I can't believe some people allow themselves to believe in such a stupid concept. And you?! You honestly think that someone should share those kinds of feelings with a pathetic man like you?! And that person you have so much hope for is Tsuruya?!"

"Tsuruya..." He said, taking a breather. She was getting serious.

"I may not know Tsuruya, but I don't think someone who is so wonderful would give a damn about you. You two might be classmates, but that sure as hell means you are not going to be lovers. Especially someone who is so unmanly like you are. Even I have more testosterone than you do. And how do I know this? The second your pants fell off, I knew she couldn't take you seriously.

Norio was just...devastated from those statements. The soul-shattering worse comments that one could say to another person in that situation. Kyon was astonished from her words. The two were at each other's throats pretty badly, but he was surprised by how Haruhi managed to beat him. Mikuru at this point had her ears covered when they made physical contact. Koizumi had his fingers against his temples, hoping nothing would go awry.

"Now, get the hell out of this club room!"

Haruhi dragged the singer from the floor by his uniform and nearly ripped the hinges from the door. Norio couldn't fight back as her heart appeared to shut down. Kyon could even see the looks in his eyes...like his pupils had disappeared from the face of the planet. She hurled him out of the room followed by a building-shaking slam. Yuki's amazing detection could hear the frantic running and sobbing down the hall.

With the Brigade in shock, Haruhi could only say one thing.

"Mikuru, you look terrible. Let me braid your hair."

* * *

It was dusk when the Brigade was finally dismissed to leave. Haruhi barged out of the room ready to go home. Mikuru was quick to follow, as she didn't want people to see the number of ludicrous braids in her autumn-colored hair. Itsuki and Kyon walked out after that, with the two looking at each other in worry.

"How are things in closed space?"

"This is not good. Not good at all." Itsuki said, with his head down. "There's a good chance we can handle this, but it'll be within about a week. We're already fighting very difficult monsters at the moment, so we need to create a schedule to keep the beasts at bay. We have a possibility of failing, but it just depends on how Haruhi is."

_I was really enjoying this universe._

"I can't really say anything other than good luck, Koizumi."

"Your kind words are enough to help me survive in battle."

_I wish you would have refrained from saying that._

Itsuki went off in a hurry as he needed to go fight. Kyon hopped on his bike and sped off, wanting to spend some quality time at his home. He now had to think of some plans to cheer up Haruhi for later in the week, and maybe help Norio out. Hopefully, things wouldn't be too bad.

Unbeknownst to them, something was going well underway.

* * *

Yuki had in her typical fashion already walked out of the school and prepared to go to her single apartment. She took all the routes like normal, from waiting on the bus to going up the elevator towards her single room. Once she arrived there, she quickly laid down her bags and sat by her lowly positioned table on her red cushion.

She turned her head up to the sky, looking to see the stars. Her mouth began to move at a lightning fast pace, almost like ceremonial chanting. With each passing sentence, the room started to dramatically change. The ceiling had disappeared so that only the void of space could be seen. Her single apartment had folded into itself like package being turned into a single square. The only thing remaining was her and the few pieces of furniture that she was touching.

She waited there for only milliseconds as other beings started to fill her presence. It looked to be a large, towering stand to separate several people from the lone Nagato Yuki. She stared up at it with little concern, as if she had gone through the process thousands of times. The sentient being spoke to her with a stoic, but much more defining voice.

"Requesting identification."

"Humanoid interface Nagato Yuki." She stated.

"Name, Nagato Yuki, confirmed. Welcome." The conversation between the two beings was very simple. "The Integrated Data Thought Entity requires your attendance for your new set of instructions."

"Understood."

"Your mission is to be continued as normal, but with the information that Plan #74668427844 is to be fulfilled."

There was a short pause before Yuki spoke again. "Requesting permission for the validity of the confirmation of Plan #74668427844."

"With recent observation, the plan has a 72% succession rating with eliminating future errors with Suzumiya Haruhi. It has been tested and recorded 14,498 times in the last 3 hours since Suzumiya Haruhi's last interaction."

"I must question the calculations of the decision for Plan #74668427844."

"Nagato, did you consider the actions and possibilities of the other life forms around Suzumiya?"

Nagato searched her memory to see if she could answer honestly. "I admit to the failure of understanding the actions of others."

"Thank you for your cooperation. Due to circumstances, we will be taking the information of other humanoid interfaces in the vicinity to study future possibilities and consequences for the execution of Plan #74668427844 starting with data taken from 1 year, 2 months, 1 day, 11 hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds from now."

"Understood."

Within a flash, Yuki returned her normal apartment to let her superiors go through with their plans.

* * *

Plot!

I really hope you all are enjoying this story from what has happened. I'm still somewhat concerned with what's happened because with a drama, you do have to be delicate with what's happened. I don't think we've seen someone do a deep, personal arguement with Haruhi, which is why I think she would go into insulting Norio so deeply.

I implore you all that if you have something to say, be completely honest. I need your critique and thoughts, because I really want to entertain you all, and telling me how to hone my craft will help out a lot.

**Please review!**


	10. Well Thought Out Twinkles

I just want to say, that I seriously do not intend in updating at such crappy times. Stuff keeps happening. Moving into a new apartment along with college along with lots of real-life issues really cuts into all of your time. Anyway, hope you enjoy because I believe this is the longest chapter so far.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa (Who is working on the 11th novel) and animated by Kyoto Animation. (That has officially made Season 2 epic, after the abyssmal Endless Eight) and I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

BRNNNNGG BRNNNNGG.

Those sounds made Kyon roll around in his bed. He didn't want to get up, so he let the phone ring until the batteries ran out of juice. As his eyes slowly started to accept daylight, he could tell it was way too early for school to start. There wasn't a rush to go school. There wasn't even a rush to go brush his teeth. Unfortunately, the ringing continued on for a few minutes.

_Not getting out of bed. Don't want to get out of bed anyway..._

Kyon put his blankets over his head, hoping to deafen out the sound. However for him, the phone's ringing echoed throughout other sections of the house. After a minute, the door busted open as an energetic girl entered the room. She looked at her brother, bewildered to why he wasn't doing anything.

"Kyon-kun, your phone." She spoke.

"Don't need you to tell me that..." Kyon groggily said.

At this point, he decided to just get out of the bed of his own. It would be better than having to deal with his sister yelling and jumping on the bed. He pressed his fingers by his sockets so that his eyes could fully open. When he picked up the ringing phone, he looked at the screen to see who was calling, but it read "Unknown Number."

"Hello?" He said.

"Kyon-kun? It's Itsuki."

_Of course. The one person who I wouldn't put on my contacts list._

"What do you need?"

"Eat, get dressed, and come outside."

"Wait, why-" Kyon started, only to have the phone disconnect on him.

_Curse you Koizumi. If time is of the essence, why would you call me just to put on my clothes and eat? Why not tell me about the situation at hand? Did you really have to make it all serious and ominous by hanging up on me. I mean, you could have just come in the house and told me what happened. Then again, giving an esper access to my house is not too great of an idea._

An unsatisfied Kyon crawled out of his bedroom to follow Koizumi's instructions. He followed through his morning schedule like with any normal day, but with an irritated scowl on his face. Once he had finished eating breakfast, he slowly took time to get dressed. Anything to make the esper to wait longer than he needed to.

But he did eventually go outside so he could get going to school. Once he put his hands on his bike, he was surprised by Koizumi's voice.

"Ready to go now?"

_Don't surprise me like that!_

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

_Great, I have to walk and talk with him. I have this bike, but I can't use it because he can't talk to me over the phone. It's like talking over the phone can't be engaging and emotional. I wonder what he wants anyway. Wait a second...what's that?_

"What's with that bump on your head?" Kyon said.

Koizumi had a lump near his right temple that was being mostly covered by two band-aids. The two had been walking for only a few minutes before Kyon had finally noticed it.

"Ah, I see that you've noticed this now?" He smirked.

_You wanna make this dramatic, don't you? Okay, I'll bite._

"Just tell me what it is." Kyon stated.

"Fine then." Itsuki responded. "This swelling has come from my fight with the blue giants in Closed Space yesterday. The Organization had been battling them for several hours and continues to be fighting them at this very moment. I quickly went to work to tame them, but I unfortunately was worn out and attacked by a sudden shinjin appearing behind me. And of course, I had to fulfill my duty to Suzumiya-san."

"Okay, I'm kind of getting it."

"But here is the problem." The esper's tone became more serious. "When I am done battling the shinjin, the only stress that puts on my body is that it makes me exhausted. However, this time, I was physically injured after coming back to the real world."

"How is that possible?" _You now have my interest._

"We believe that it came from the power of the shinjin. The Organization has dealt with that amount of danger only one time before, so we were unprepared for a fight like this. Something where the shinjin were attacking the terrain in a savage manner."

"Savagely?"

"When Suzumiya-san summons them in Closed Space, it is due to whenever she is bored, irritated, or unsatisfied with the situation at hand. When that happens, it is fairly routine to control the shinjin before anything reaches critical activity. Defeating one is not that hard in the grand scheme of things. You've seen that first hand."

_Uh huh. Get to the serious part._

"So this situation is different because?" Kyon said, wanting to finally get the explanation.

"What Yamada said to the Suzumiya in the club room was...devastating. Literally, most of the buildings in Closed Space were destroyed beyond recognition. We assume that no one has ever spoken so directly to our Brigade Chief."

"Are you serious?" He said with a bit of disbelief. "No one has told her off before?" _I'm not trying to glorify Haruhi, I really think someone could have yelled at her before._

"I can ask around, but we do believe this is one of the few times where someone else's words have really stuck with Suzumiya-san. Sadly if such words are taken too seriously..."

"Yeah, I know the end result. How bad was it?"

"About 75% of Closed Space was closing in upon the world."

_That's bad. We for sure can't let that happen again.  
_

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I suppose we could talk with Yamada-sempai into making an apology."

"He seemed serious." _Honestly man, have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? I'm pretty sure Haruhi's words stuck with him too._

"If we can't do that, then we'll just have to console Suzumiya-san to the best of our ability. I'm sure Nagato and Asahina's parties can agree on that notion. We just can't appear too obvious with our concerns."

_I know the scenario...but, it's better to have a happy Haruhi than a sulking Haruhi.  
_

"The Organization is unsure on how to deal with her feelings since she's so inquisitive towards any event. We'll be limited to helping her between just the four of us, but even then we have to be subtle. I suppose if you want us to cover all of our bases, you can talk to Suzumiya-san. The rest of us can look over the grand scheme of things. While the espers can handle Closed Space, Nagato and Asahina have been researching more with Yamada-sempai. We have many possibilities to concern."

"Wait, why do I have to talk to Haruhi?"

"You know the answer to this. You are the one she'll listen to."

_Why must you talk to me like that._

At this point, the two members of the SOS Brigade had arrived at the school. Kyon felt relieved that he could stop talking to Koizumi for a few minutes. He checked his watch to see that class was about to start soon. As the two split to their separate classrooms, Kyon felt a strange aura upon sitting at his chair. He glanced to see Haruhi, simply staring at the window. She didn't look like she wanted to make contact.

_I hate seeing her in this mood. It's always very chilling. __That argument the two of them had was rather vicious. __ It's like a scientist looking in at an active experiment trapped in a glass box. You aren't sure what is gonna happen, but either way the results will be surprising. For this experiment, the stressor was god and the reactant was the universe. Sounds a bit unfair._

"It looks like it's gonna rain..." Suzumiya murmured.

Kyon took the time to look at the sky himself. Grey clouds appeared to be moving in from the south.

_Some kind of symbol?_

* * *

On a different side of the city, one individual house was separated from the rest of the Hyōgo Prefecture. It looked normal for the most part, despite having a Western-like appearance. People walking by slowly started to turn their heads at the house, feeling like something was emitting from the ground. It gave a very faint sound from one particular side of the house. Everyone who noticed it though, simply ignored it and went on with her day.

Inside the room, emitting the noise was a broken teenager. Norio was lying on top of his bed while staring into space. Even as the music slowly toned down, he didn't seem to acknowledge any change. His brain was only focusing on his computer, blasting the sound at hand. He didn't pay attention to his needs, he just focused on music.

He continued to mouth the words to himself as his speakers played the industrial metal.

_**Take me...with you...**_

_**Take me...with you...**_

_**Without you...without you everything falls apart,**_

_**Without you...it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces.**_

His eyes were oddly bulged out. The teenager was unfazed as he shifted his body on side. He made a loud sniffle even while covered in his long blankets. As much as he didn't want to get out of bed, he knew that he had to. Norio simply waited until the song had ended. Once it had faded away, he slid out of his bed and left the room.

Norio contemplated to himself as he scrounged around his bathroom for medicine.

_**I am sick. I know this has to have happened to someone else. Where something so horrible happens that it makes you physically ill? That's basically what's wrong with me.**_

The singer popped a few pain relievers/minor illness pills before washing them down with water. He shook his face from the bitter, weird taste they left in his mouth. It left him to stare in the mirror...which quickly made him depressed once again.

_**I don't know what I'm going to do. No matter what happens, I'm screwed. I'm going to have to go to school sometime and deal with all the taunting. Don't they have any compassion at all? I know Mikuru has gone through something similar, but I guarantee that the school has given her a pass. But me? I'm not a girl. I don't have worshippers.**_

_**Why does anyone even allow the SOS Brigade to do the things they do? Exploitation? Abuse? Blackmail? They don't even accomplish anything like real clubs. All they need is one really inquisitive class representative and they would go poof. This club does absolutely nothing to contribute to their futures. **_

_**Maybe I could be that one to ruin the Brigade...but then Haruhi would probably kill me. Or ruin my chances with Tsuruya. I can't think about this now. **_

Norio sneezed rather hard, causing him to reach for some tissues. With some tissues and hand sanitizer, he moved into the living room so that he could watch some TV in peace. But that peace was very short lived, as the doorbell rung.

_**Why is someone ringing my door.**_

The singer walked towards the door in annoyance. If it was Haruhi there to demand why he wasn't at school, he knew he was going to lose it. At least this way, he had the advantage of seeing who it was. His eyes shot open however, for a different reason.

"Helloooooooo!!!" The girl called out in a long, loud voice from the door.

_**Tsu-Tsuruya?!**_

Norio instantly opened the door upon seeing her emerald hair. Tsuruya lit up seeing him on through the door.

"Hi, Nori-kun!" Tsuruya greeted. She wanted to hug him, but the robe and the look in his eyes reminded her about why she came. "I noticed that you were sick today, so right after school ended I had to come down and see if you weres okay! You're so lucky that I brought my home-made tea today!" She said, pulling out some items from her bag.

"Why...thank you. I was not expecting it." Norio blushed.

"Ooh, you are turning red! Let me check your temperature."

Tsuruya quickly went to action to take care of her friend by extending her arm to his head. Norio was starting to feel really nervous now as the girl of his dreams not only decided to check up on him, but she was actually going to take care of him now.

_**Oh my god, she's touching my forehead. Tsuruya is touching my forehead...this isn't going to leave my brain soon. She's such a sweet person.**_

"Oh wows, you are megas hot!" Tsuruya said while removing her hand from his head. "Here, go ahead and sit down. I'll make some of my tea while you go and relax."

"Okay then." He nodded.

Norio went to go down on his sofa while the girl started to prepare the tea. Norio turned on the television, he could hear Tsuruya's delightful humming, which made him think about his current situation.

_**Tsuruya coming here is a good thing. She might still hold out hope for me or...understand my issues with the Brigade. I honestly doubt she is here just to observe my wallowing. There's no need to worry about anything.**_

"The tea is ready, nyoro!" Tsuruya said, moving a plate over with the tea cups.

_**Must have lost track of time. I should stay calm during this. I may love her, but I can't sweat just after what happened. Man...just thinking about it is making me teary-eyed. Need to distract my self. Wow, this tea is good.**_

"Do you like it?" She quickly said, making Norio shake his cup.

"It-it's delicious." He nodded.

"It's the Tsuruya family's number one pick-me-upper! I brought it to school because I was feeling tired, but man, was this a coincidence?!" She said chuckling. "I'm glad someone else gets to try this!"

"I suppose it is." He smiled.

_**Tastes a little fun though...remedy-curing herbs? Sweet sake? Tequila?**_

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I am. I feel a little chilly though."

"Is it the rain? That must have made you feel bad! Silly Nori-kun, staying out in the cold."

"No, it wasn't that at all."

"It wasn't?!" She said surprised. "What could it be then?"

"I think it was from...the incident."

"The incident...oh, hahaha! You mean the play!"

_**Please don't refer to it that way.**_

"I think."

"I don't see why you would feel so bad about that, nyoro. It was definitely the best part of the play."

"Tsuruya, please don't talk about it. I thought it was horrible."

"But it was hilarious!" She said, really starting to laugh thinking about the subject.

"It wasn't funny!" Norio shouted, nearly halting Tsuruya's laughter. "I mean, it's bad enough that everyone is laughing at me for it, but Haruhi is pissed off about it to."

Tsuruya only responded to the last part of that response. "Oh yeah, Harunyan did seem a bit peeved. I noticed Mikuru had her hair in braids that day."

**_I won't even ask._**

"Do we have to talk about this?"

"We should!" Tsuruya said enthusiastically.

"I don't want to!" He retorted.

Tsuruya started to piece together some of Norio's ramblings. Sadly for him, they were connecting to a very obscure puzzle. She clapped her hands together as she came to an assumption.

"I know what this is about. You are avoiding Harunyan!"

_**Halfway true.**_

"I don't like her, but why would you say that I'm avoiding her."

"You wanted to leave the SOS Brigade and you are embarrassed about what happened to you at the play, despite how great it was, nyoro."

_**Will you stop saying that was a good thing!? It was not a good thing! Do you think Mikuru likes the idea that boys think about her breasts for every moment of every school day!?**_

She continued. "And today, you are sick after I saw Mikuru-chan's hair in braids. I bet...you are scareds of Harunyan."

"Scared?!"

Tsuruya started to laugh. "Are you afraid, Nori-kun? That mean ol' Harunyan is gonna kick the crap out of you?!"

The only thing filling the air that moment was Tsururya's laughter at the thought of the Brigade Chief beating up her unrequited friend. He stared at her with blank eyes. It didn't take him long for his limbs to quiver, and his eyes to leak tears. He couldn't bear to look at her for longer. After a while, she saw that she wasn't looking at him anymore.

"Nori-kun?"

"Leave my house."

"Huh?"

"I know, you are trying to help me...but just leave."

She moved in a bit closer. "Hey, I didn't means to be hurtful or anything."

Norio swiped away her arm. "No. Go away."

Tsuruya was taken back by what she said. "Listen, Nori-kun..."

"Thank you for the tea, but just get the hell out of my house, Tsuruya."

"What?"

He lifted his face, revealing a whole new side to Tsuruya. She almost felt intimidated by his angry scowl and sharp eyes. She started to back off his couch as he shifted his body up.

"You have no idea just how stupid you are." He spoke through his teeth.

Silence. Silence filled the air as he spoke those words. Tsuruya started to think to herself...this must have been what happened with Haruhi. No one had ever yelled at her like that before, leading to the eventual hair-braiding. Without a word, she held her hands by her face. Her legs turned around as she ran out of the door.

_**Can't you understand? Why can't you understand that things just aren't that pure Tsuruya? Do you honestly believe that insulting me is going to cheer me up? Do you lack the brain capacity to get it when someone is in pain? Or when they are suffering? Or when they are being abused right before your very eyes?**_

_**What's wrong with you...what's wrong with everyone!? **_

Those words started to bubble around in his head. He grabbed the tea and quickly slugged it down, hoping that the theory of alcoholic tea was true. Norio came to the idea that he should sleep after suffering through all this mental torture for a few days. After remembering about the sleeping pills in the kitchen, he grabbed a few of them and quickly turned on the faucet.

But before he could pop them, he had to take a step back to see something in the window. It was raining much harder than he had expected. The ground was covered in a greyish haze. His eyes locked in however, seeing a dark green figure standing on the sidewalk. He ran towards the window immediately, knowing who it was.

_**What is she still doing here?! Doesn't she have a limo!?**_

He stared at Tsuruya as the rain just ruined her clothes and hair. It looked like her feet were nailed to the concrete as she did not budge, even from the pouring rain. Norio's eyes looked in a bit closer. Her mouth was moving. It was moving constantly in the same pattern over and over. Even with all the rain, he could still get a shot on her lips.

_**Why is she doing this? Is she trying to prove something? Maybe my words got to her? Gah, I can't think about myself, I need to know what she's saying. Ugh...Go, no it's something else. I...I'm sor-ry.**_

_**I'm sorry! That's what she was saying?! Oh my god, what have I done?!**_

Norio burst open the door, nearly ripping off the shingles attaching it. He was standing right under an awning that covered one section of his house. He moved to the side, to see his emerald-colored beauty within his sights. Norio gasped, seeing the blur of her hair walking away from his house. He shouted with all of his might.

"Tsuruya!!!!!!!!"

There was no response. Just rain. He started to panic as he continued to shout.

"I'm sorry!!!!! I should have never taken out my anger on you!!!!!!! Tsuruya!!!! Come Back!!!!!"

He started to cover his eyes in shame. He did it. He let his fury overpower his brain.

"Nori-kun..." A faint voice said.

"Tsuruya?!" He looked up, to see the girl standing right before him.

The singer was just as shocked as she was a few minutes ago. He had now seen a whole new side of her...as a frown was right across her face. Norio had never seen her depressed. Even the day he truly bonded with her, she never looked seriously sad. But seeing her with such a beaten up look was now etched into his brain.

He didn't want to see it again.

Norio started to audibly cry as he extended his arms like an eagle. Tsuruya jumped in head first to them. It nearly took him to the ground, but Norio stayed strong even with his weakened will. The two held each other with all of their might as they dug their heads into each others shoulders. Their ears were ringing with the muffled sounds of "I'm sorry," and "I shouldn't of done that." They stood that way for a good long while as they completely shut out the sound of the rain. Norio started to think to himself; That only a true relationship could withstand a fight such as this.

_**Never again...I never wanna see her like that again.**_

* * *

"You know guys..." Haruhi sighed. "I'm just not feeling up for this today. Go ahead and go home."

The girl walked up from her chair, with her books in tow, and went right out the door. It made a swift slam, sending chills up the rest of the SOS Brigade members' bodies. With the exception of Yuki of course, who continued to be unaffected even after the argument. Kyon felt uneasy from the day.

_Today was one of those days where awkward silence filled up the room. It wasn't as scary as the days when Mikuru got her hair braided, but it was close. As strange as Haruhi can be, the days where you don't hear her rambling about any theories or ideas she has really puts a damper on things. Makes things feel like a waste._

_Oh crap, Koizumi is looking at me. Better get moving._

Koizumi was staring at Kyon, still holding that trademark grin of his. He responded by rolling his eyes and dashing out the room, hoping to meet up with Haruhi. The days of blankness would continue if he didn't do something. Not to mention that he'd probably have to deal with more mysterious meetings in the morning or at the middle of the night.

Just as he came to the doors, he took a sudden stop seeing that Haruhi was waiting there. She could hear him stepping down the hallway, but her eyes were fixated on the pouring rain. Haruhi still spoke with him.

"What are you in a hurry for?" Her voice sounding blasé.

"I wanted to get home soon, that's all." Kyon thought up. "I didn't know it was still raining."

"I'm not surprised that you didn't notice it." She sighed.

_Yes, and I'm to console you._

"I wonder how many things you don't pay attention to."

"I know, I know." Kyon said, going along with the conversation.

"Kyon, can you do me a favor?"

_This will be difficult. _"What do you want?"

"Tell me the truth. Do I seem like a happy person to you?"

_How am I never prepared for this? It's like, the pressure isn't there until she asked. Then it's like several needles pushed against each other going into different parts of my head._

"Yeah." Kyon said simply.

"How so?"

Kyon started to squirm around, trying to find the right words. Luckily, Haruhi didn't keep an eye on him.

"I think that when you really show interest in..."

"I knew you'd say that." Haruhi moved her eyes from the rain to the ground.

_Huh?_

"Even you would have trouble coming up with some kind of answer. I didn't think it would be possible, but maybe I'm not all that happy a person as I thought I would be."

"Don't say that." Kyon instinctively said.

"Why? I bet you even have days where you think like that."

_I find it really creepy when you know what I'm thinking. _

"Just don't bug me about this, okay? I'll handle it on my own."

"...Okay then. You know my phone number."

"Whatever." Haruhi shrugged. "Huh, the rain has stopped."

The god/singularity walked out of the school, feeling exactly the same way she felt this morning. Kyon looked to the ground with thoughts of defeat in his head. This was all very off-putting. It wasn't the typical conversation with Haruhi when they were put into this kind of scenario. He knew what to do when she was excited or angry or even when she ignored him. But this was a whole different side.

_That was awkward. And I know that I think that a lot, but this was so much more awkward than I think anyone could have expected. Did she want me to talk to her? Did she want me to console her? How am I supposed to feel about these things? _

_I know that whenever I talk to Asahina-san, Nagato, or Koizumi, they always say I'm that "one" person. I'm starting to believe that I know what role that is now. _

_I'm her psychologist. What the..._

Kyon heard the sounds of his phone vibrating, causing him to pick it up and answer it. He groaned, as it was a harsh reminder of what had happened earlier this morning.

"Uh, Kyon-kun?"

"What is it?" He responded with a sour tone.

"We've received a spike in Closed Space activity. By any chance, did you say something to upset Suzumiya-san?"

"No, I didn't."

"Are you sure?" He said. Even over the phone, it sounded like Koizumi was leaning over him.

Kyon sighed and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "Maybe you should do try doing my job for once."

"I'm sorry?" The esper said, taken back from the response.

"If you are so concerned about what Haruhi does or how Haruhi feels, maybe you should just do some of the work yourself."

"But Kyon-kun, you are..."

"Listen Koizumi, I can't always help out Haruhi. Today, I didn't have much success." Kyon said in a deadpan tone, turning the phone off.

_Helping her is one thing, but think about how many times this has happened. Seriously Koizumi, if The Organization is so concerned in keeping Haruhi in line, then getting to know her would help them. Putting all of the emphasis on me is just weakening their purpose. And if I'm out of commission, she's just going to act worse over the fact that I'm not around. If it's your duty to keep Haruhi's emotions in check, then using me as your only tactic isn't going to help. I've failed in this situation, so what are you going to do now?  
_

Kyon walked to the soaked bike rack, hoping to go home without any ominous appearances or discoveries popping up in front of him. Times like this he needed to sleep.

_Things will settle. They always do._

* * *

"Okays then, goodbye Nori-kun." Tsuruya said.

"Thank you for coming, Tsuruya-chan." Norio bowed.

The genki girl walked out of the house with a revitalized sense of joy. She practically skipped out of the door as a rainbow started to form from the sky. Norio felt that same level of happiness simply watching the girl of his dreams leave. His illness felt like it had faded away…well, mostly. He began coughing again after Tsuruya went out of his eyesight. He aimed towards the sink to clear out his mouth.

**_Well, my bond with Tsuruya is still intact. I can't believe I yelled at her like that. What was I thinking? I'm glad I was able to snap out of it before she left feeling all broken. ...Might have been able to call her on my cell phone, but it just wouldn't of been the same. Either way, I'm relieved. I have Tsuruya's love to get me through the day._**

Norio found himself still blushing just from mentioning her as his face became less red, he started to think about the reality of the situation.

**_That doesn't really change much. The school is still gonna be laughing at me and my band is will still be angry at me. I can talk to Daiki for updates though. Maybe we can bribe Wrathchild to give me some leverage. After all, we are the ones who accepted her in the first place. It amazes me that everything even happened. Honestly, a drum battle? A play? Public humiliation? _**

**_Maybe it's my fault for getting involved. People told me to avoid that brigade because of its insanity, and I didn't listen. I had to get closer to Tsuruya some way. It was the only thing I could do since we couldn't really talk anywhere else. I enjoyed spending my time with Unstability, and hell, that's like going to business meetings for me._**

Putting more thought into it, the singer started to culminate over every single event with the SOS Brigade. The formula was so simple…there was always one reoccurring factor. He gritted his teeth and bashed his hand across the counter.

**_Why am I even blaming myself? It's all that damned Haruhi's fault!_** **_None of us have ever done anything wrong, and yet still she treats us like animals. No, even worse! Animals have some sense of decency! She thinks we're all just a bunch of potatoes. I can't believe I didn't leave the group sooner. But even with that, I never knew one woman could be so stubborn._**

**_Seriously, why is anyone else even in that stupid club? Not only was I kicked around, but I watched as Kyon and Mikuru were mishandled the entire time! How can one person have so much animosity towards life? I've heard of self-hating artists, but that makes sense! It's so that the artist in question can become better and more talented than he/she hoped for! _**

**_But Haruhi?! No…she would prefer to hate the world and everyone who lived in it just for not being special enough. Hell, she even seems to hate herself since she never applies to do anything other than foolishness. All of that musical and athletic talent is completely wasted. She thinks that if some time traveler or alien appears that her life will be magically better? What the hell is she even thinking with that kind of logic? Talented or honest people aren't good enough for her satisfaction? _**

**_And what's worse is…people continue to let her live in her little bubble. The rumors, the conspiracies, the facts all prove that this girl needs to be slapped around. Every single one of her problems is stuck in her head and just dripping with stupidity. Why can't the student councils or teachers put a stop to her? It's nothing but mindless self indulgence!_**

**_They must be throwing away their studies just by living under her thumb. Nagato and Koizumi didn't leave any impression on me but Mikuru can't live on her cuteness alone! Kyon's a smart guy, I know that. This kind of pressure just won't lead to anything good if he continues to stay. And Tsuruya…precious Tsuruya…I don't even know if that girl even acknowledges her kindness and hard work._**

**_I don't know what to do if…_**

Norio's train of thought was cut off by his nearby phone, ringing loudly. He quickly began to think if he should answer it. The school might not believe in his sickness because of what had transpired. He checked the clock…it was near sunset actually. The time moved much faster than he expected. With those concerns gone, he grabbed the phone and started to speak.

"Hello, Yamada residence?"

"Norio-san? Is that you?"

**_Where have I heard that voice…_**

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Ah, don't you remember?"

"It's kind of a blur…" He tried to recall.

"It's Asakura-san."

Norio's memories began flowing like a broken dam. It was that cerulean-haired beauty who just completely vanished from the school. No one seems to be all that affected by her sudden moving, but it was still quite odd. He felt a little special knowing that she had called him.

"Asakura-san? Wow…I haven't heard about you in ages."

"It's only been fourteen months." She responded.

"What happened?"

"Don't you know? I relocated to Vancouver, Canada."

"So the rumors were true…"

"Yes. They were." She said factually.

"So, why are you calling me exactly?"

"I was informed about your situation approximately 36 hours ago."

**_Great, so those students have to tell the entire world about my problems._**

"Did you want to talk about this? Did something similar happen to you? I always knew you as being this incredible person."

"A proposition."

"What proposition?"

"Norio-san, try to comprehend this within that mind of yours. A type of reality where Haruhi does not exist. She's completely gone from the school and people are perplexed about where she is or what she has been doing. Even if she were to come back, people would feel completely uncomfortable about her presence."

"It sounds great, but I really don't understand." He said.

"I want to say that this kind of world is not possible, if you are not involved. As much as I would like to change the way our universe works, I can not. My purpose in life did not have such opportunity or clear value."

The singer was getting increasingly uncomfortable from Asakura's words. Not only did they sound ominous, but it was as if she was speaking in some sort of code.

"Wh-what are you saying?"

"Haruhi is the source of all your troubles, am I correct?"

_**Well not...I guess.**_

"Yes."

"Do you believe she will change?"

"...She could."

"Do you approve of the things she does?"

"No."

"Do you worry about Tsuruya-san?"

_**What in the hell does she know...**_

"Of course I do!"

"Then the answer is simple." She responded without missing a beat.

"What's that?"

"Separate her from them."

"I couldn't get Tsuruya to leave the SOS-Brigade. But that would just make her unhappy..." _** I've already tried. I guess it's a relief, that Asakura doesn't know everything.**_

"Then remove Haruhi from the picture."

"But how can I do that?"

"I've said everything I needed to say."

"What?!" Norio shouted. Just as things were about to get serious, she now has to leave.

"I'll leave you a message explaining all of the details."

_**This is creepy. Asakura has formed some psychotic plan for me to get what I want...despite the fact that she never really knew me. She's just stuck in Canada doing God knows what. But now she acquired my information, and wants me to go along with this. Perhaps I just need proof or something to know that she doesn't want to mess with me.**_

"Asakura-san?"

"Yes?" The alien responded like nothing had changed.

"Tell me, the reason you moved to Canada...was it because of Haruhi?"

"Yes. Goodbye now."

At that moment, the phone hung up. Norio ran back into his room to find his cell phone which was now vibrating on his dresser. He opened it to find three messages found by Ryoko to explain everything he was supposed to do. He opened up the "Part 1" file and began reading thusly.

The plan was well thought out, calculating every move step by step. It had a detailed list of locations, times, and people that he was supposed to meet in only a few hours. Norio became more and more stunned as the plan was noting every last iota. Moving to the next message, the steps were getting grimmer and grimmer.

Once he looked at the final steps...he was starting to pant. All these steps were to be executed after he made a long trip within one day. Then it was to turn into some kind of waiting game. The goal was to find a perfect opportunity to strike. After the final notion, it left one simple phrase. "All of the aftermath will disappear."

Norio just flipped his cell phone down and put his hands over his face. The idea...it was too ludicrous to perform. He would surely fumble up somewhere. And the end result? Would he really want that on his conscious? Just so Tsuruya could be safe? Thinking about that green-haired girl started to put horrifying images in his head.

_**I should look at this differently.**_

He pulled out a sheet of paper and began scribbling down two different columns. One was labeled as "Go With The Plan" while the other was labeled as "Forget The Plan." Sadly, the reasons for going along with the plan were staggering. There was a plethora of support to go along with everything: Tsuruya's safety, the sanity of Mikuru and Kyon, and the fact that Haruhi has possibly damaged everyone's life in the SOS Brigade. It just went on. There was also the fact that she has already ruined his own reputation and is ruining the trust between him and his band mates. As the list filled, he looked towards the one reason to skip the plan: Because she's a human being.

Norio again just put his hands over his eyes to think this all over. That was truly the only reason he could think about not doing this. Simple morality. But, did that ever really help him? Did Haruhi have the morality to understand what everyone else was going through? Didn't he show enough humanity that he cared for the people he loved?

_**In the end...it isn't that bad of a solution.**_

* * *

I hope that was worth time you guys may have waited. Thank you for still reading this story. Seriously, I really appreciate it.

For this chapter, I named it "Well Thought Out Twinkles" after the band, the Silversun Pickups. And I say this for once, because I believe that the Silversun Pickups' music is perfect for reading or watching Haruhi. Their spacey, shoegazing lyrics and sound just works so perfectly for this series. All I can say is, give it a shot.

Again, thanks to you all.


	11. More Human Than Human

Yes, I live. I apologize for my very, VERY long absence from this fic, but I do wish to tell everyone about why I've been gone. Honestly, I got random inspiration and wrote most of this over Christmas.

1. Being a transfer student to a new college was very sudden and overwhelming for me.

2. The original plan I had for this chapter felt kind of iffy after I really thought about it. It would of been convoluted, had various anime references, and it would of been fanservice (for me). After thinking about it for a long time, it really would not of worked. This new plan, which only took a day of thought was much, much better. And my original plan didn't even really tie in what happened with Ryoko last chapter.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and it was worth the wait. I at least hope that it surprises you.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation (Who hopefully with live up to the expectations of the 4th Novel) I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 11: More Human Than Human**

_So this morning…everything is normal._

Kyon thought to himself as he rose out of bed. Despite what had happened the day before, everything seemed to be normal as usual. No plague-ridden skies, no oddities anywhere around the bed, and the sun was shining rather brightly into his room. He even peeked out of his window to make sure everything was fine. No Koizumi in sight. He checked his phone too…no calls from the esper.

He took that as a sign that he could relax for today. Kyon went through his traditional routine on a day when the world wasn't in danger. Taking a shower, changing clothes, and fixing a nice breakfast felt really nice on a day like this. He hopped on his bike ready to see where this particular day was going to go.

_Funny. I really expected for something much drearier. Like, buildings turning to rumble or the sky turning blood red. Or even Koizumi standing over me in my room. But for today, it just feels good to know that I can relax. This whole month I was concerned because I never knew when the conflict would come. It was going to come, but it's scary because you don't exactly know when it's going to happen or how it's going to be._

_And now that it's happened…everything's fine. The sky hasn't crashed down and turned the world into some apocalyptic wasteland. I was expecting that argument to really make things bad, but then again, things were normal the next day. Perhaps I'm underestimating Haruhi after everything she's gone through. Why would I not assume she's grown at this point? There has been some difference between the time she formed the SOS Brigade and now._

_But still, even if today is normal, that could still be a bad sign. The minds of teenagers are always much more complex than you can see on the outside. If I can at least see Haruhi at school; that will be a good sign. There are some little details that will tell me if everything's fine. _

_If I can pay attention to my studies, that's probably the best signal of all. My mind is constantly distracted by whatever Haruhi has on her brain. Wait, that could be bad. Haruhi is best when she's acting like herself! I remember the whole movie scenario a bit too well…the cherry blossoms bloomed that day. Gah, it feels like I'm going in circles here! _

_Good thing school is only five minutes away._

Kyon parked at the bike rack, taking his time to walk up to his homeroom. Everything looked normal to his relief. But the second he walked into the classroom, his mood shifted.

_Damn, she's not here. Is she late? No, Haruhi might not enjoy school but she does have really good attendance. Maybe she's not in the classroom. That's it! She's probably just in the SOS clubroom._

As he walked quickly to the room, Kyon went towards the stairs, ascending to the top floor of the building. His pace quickened as his worries were getting the best of him. He nearly slid to the floor once he reached the clubroom. Regaining his composure, he opened the door to confirm his problems.

_She isn't here either. It's just Yuki sitting in her corner, as usual. I know it's a bit early but still, this is worrying the hell out of me. Haruhi is never late and never gets sick. Even though I'm the only person who knows she's godlike, other people have to notice an oddity like this. Wait a minute…could it be happening again? _

Kyon took a minute to study his surroundings.

_Okay, she's not wearing glasses, but that's just appearances. Why is she on the computer? _

"Nagato, has anyone come to the clubroom yet?" He spoke.

"No." Yuki said, her eyes still gazing at the computer screen.

_Phew. Well, that's one theory gone._

"Fair enough. I see you are on the laptop today. That's a little unusual for you, are you playing Day of the Sagittarius?"

She didn't respond. The only response she made towards Kyon was to glance at him for one second. Kyon felt a bit bewildered; to be stared at by a humanoid interface was something that would truly make one wonder. He couldn't think of a response towards Yuki's reactions. She moved her eyes back to her computer and started to type her fingers at a mile a minute.

_Did she…just start playing?_

"Hi there." Koizumi approached.

_Why do you have to surprise me like that?!_

"Gah, hey." Kyon scowled.

"Can we talk?" He spoke.

"You know I'm going to say yes…"

Itsuki dragged Kyon away enough to be out of Yuki's earshot. The information that the esper learned today was rather crucial, something that only the two of them could discuss. Once he stopped by the men's bathroom, his eyes peered from side to side.

"Don't tell me we're going to discuss this in the washroom." Kyon said.

"That wouldn't really help anything." Koizumi responded. "Besides, it's closed for repairs."

_That'd probably make it much more suspicious anyway._

"So what did you need to tell me?" Kyon asked.

"Something very peculiar has happened regarding Suzumiya-san."

"Figured."

"I suppose you are in no mood for courtesy."

"You were the one telling me how I need to do better next time when talking to Haruhi. After all, the espers are the world's last line of defense."

"Very clever." He smirked. "Anyway, I'll get down to it. Despite the fact that yes, I did pressure you, we didn't appear to have any problems dealing with the shinjin."

"Really?"

"That's actually the surprising part." The esper began. "For a few hours, the activity in Closed Space had spiked due to what had transpired between you and Suzumiya-san. But suddenly when it felt like the giants were never going to stop, everything vanished."

"Are you serious?" Koizumi now had Kyon's attention.

"At first, we expected the worse. The grey sky appeared to cave down in on us. It was similar to watching an energy ball contract just before it explodes. But after that happened, the shinjin were gone. It was…miraculous. The buildings that were once in ruins had restructured to their original state."

"They repaired?"

"Yes. And since then we haven't had any paranormal activity occur. The Organization is still on alert, but it's very interesting how this whole event turned out. Half of us see it as a good thing, but the other half believes that this is going to lead to something much worse. Though personally, I prefer to see the glass half full."

_Okay, I'm getting this now…_

"What does it exactly mean?"

"We believe that Suzumiya-san might have listened to Yamada's words."

_Whoa. Wait, are you sure we are thinking about the right person? Gah, I'm not giving Haruhi enough credit for this kind of thing. I mean, she does get a message or two once in a while. Though every time that occurred, I tried really hard to forget about what could have happened._

"Are you sure? He looked really pissed off when he was talking to her."

"Suzumiya-san handled the situation very well, but those words clearly got to her. The outcome reflected on Asahina-san." Koizumi observed.

_Why does she find braiding Asahina-san's hair is so fascinating?_

"The Organization believes that after you two had your conversation, Suzumiya-san took the time to really look at herself. She didn't necessarily have any flaws in her way of seeing things, but you can deduce that Yamada's words hit her."

_Koizumi, you really should open your eyes once when Haruhi is going on with some harebrained scheme._

"We aren't sure how this will affect us, but we believe that the sudden stop in Closed Space means that she had some type of revelation. I suppose your slip up actually helped us in the long run." He smiled.

_Ugh, learn to think and then speak!_

"Fair enough. I'm just glad we'll be able to get through this whole thing."

"The only thing that I can suggest is that we need to support Suzumiya-san no matter how she feels. Perhaps we should console her while she's absent."

"You know she's absent?" Kyon stared at the esper.

"Oh come now, you think this is something The Organization wouldn't know?" His grin extending.

"I guess you guys have another good use." He responded, as the two walked back to their homerooms.

_Well Koizumi has done everything he can. But when he says we; I know he wants me to call Haruhi. Doesn't she see the other members as friends? I swear, everyone else is so strong but they undermine themselves so freaking much. Haruhi can't see me as the only significant person here._

_

* * *

  
_

One floor below…

Lunch began for the seniors. While many of the people went down to the cafeteria, some of the other students pulled out their bentos, particularly three members of the band of Unstability. Masato and Daiki were having a normal conversation, but Norio just stayed quiet and looked down at his desk. It had been a really long night filled with pondering and ideas.

_**What do I do? Seriously...what do I do?**_

_**Can I go along with this crazy plan? I have the choice to say no and just forget about everything that happened. But damn it, that's just too hard. Why does something this intense have to happen over one day? Granted, I did spend most of the day lying in bed, but when you have nothing to do; your mind just wanders off.**_

_**It was creepy that Asakura somehow contacted me with this messed plan. But when I think about it...it's hard to resist. I'm honestly sick of Haruhi and I need to protect not just Tsuruya, but the other members of the brigade who might of been scarred by her. And it's not like they are the only ones. **_

_**Do I go through with this? What if I do get caught? But, what if there is no judgment? **_

"Oi, Norio." The bassist said.

_**God, what do I do? The temptation is so strong...**_

"Hey, Norio!" Daiki shouted, snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face.

"Wh-what?" Norio blinked.

"You haven't eaten any of your lunch. I thought you liked tonkatsu. Something wrong?" He observed.

"Well..."

"It's fine, Norio." Masato affirmed. "We still trust you."

_**Maybe Daiki and Masato will help. I can't say anything too obvious though.**_

"I've been thinking really hard about something." Norio gulped.

"And that is?" The guitarist said.

"Should I...get revenge on Haruhi?"

The two members of Unstablility had completely different reactions to that answer. Daiki was just as puzzled as Norio. What she was very unforgivable, but antagonizing could lead to even more arguments between the two. But he had heard that the student council had issues with the SOS Brigade. Masato covered his face and looked at the desk, like a humiliated prosecutor.

"I think it's up to you." Daiki guaranteed. "If you want to lay off her, I can respect that. That way you'll be the bigger man. However, what she did was just mean. And she pissed off Tetsu and Wrathchild something bad, so I don't think anyone else would be angry."

_**Doesn't really help my situation there...but thank you.**_

"Well, I'm thinking about it. The question is...what? She's a girl with no shame. I'm wondering if I should take a risk and screw with her life for once."

Daiki raised his eyebrow. "Won't that jeopardize your relationship with Tsuruya?"

"I'm pretty sure she'll understand." Norio said. "The way that Haruhi has affected everyone can't go unpunished."

"Do it." Masato said.

"What?"

"Humiliate the bitch." He growled.

Norio and Daiki were taken back a bit like that. Their cool, collected guitarist was finally showing off some of his true colors. The bassist gave him an eye, thinking that he was going to learn two very important things about his friends today.

"What's your gripe with her?" Daiki sighed.

"She's ruining things!" Masato said.

"Dude, I've been noticing this stuff. People always think the bassist is lazy and doesn't know anything but I pay attention when my band mates are distraught. Haruhi clearly has had some kind of history with us. Definitely with Norio and she even knows something about Wrathchild. But with you? Now I'm curious."

Masato looked at singer hoping for some back up. Norio shrugged. "I want to know what's going on. You seem more serious than I am. "

At that point, Masato let a big sigh go as he pushed his food away. He took a big swig of his water before talking. He could still remember every single detail. He didn't have to tell the band anything and life could go on as usual...until the day SOS Brigade got involved with the band. After that, every memory returned like a set of bombs in his brain.

"Be prepared for this. I...I dated Haruhi."

Once that was stated, Norio and Daiki's eyes went huge. That was something they weren't expecting. She could have possibly humiliated him months before; similar to what happened to Tetsu. This was a whole new level of pain. Norio grabbed his desk, both outraged and somehow understanding over this situation.

"I heard about this!" Norio exclaimed. "An underclassman told me some information about Haruhi when she first came to North High. She did a ton of crazy things, including going out with every single guy who asked her out!"

"And I found that out the hard way." He shot Norio a piercing glance.

"Why would you want to date her? She's hot and all, but the rumors." Daiki assumed.

"On the outside, Haruhi is practically a dream girl." Masato explained. "Attractive, talented, really smart, and sassy. If you think about it, the fact that she's an ice queen kind of made her a bit more desirable. So I thought to myself, maybe I could be the one who could see the true Haruhi. Maybe we could have an eternal, long lasting relationship."

The two members nodded along, understanding the logic.

"But all those rumors about Haruhi...they were just dead on. She was an intelligent, skilled sociopath."

"How long did it last?" Norio asked.

"Five days. Pretty long by her standards but you wouldn't believe how it was. I treated her like a freaking princess. I have money and I know I show it off. They say money can't buy happiness; I wasn't trying to buy my affections from her, but I did everything I could. I use my money to make everyone I care about have a better life. I believed she was playing hard to get because that's what everyone was talking about. A girl so icy you could see a blue aura coming off of her."

"Okay, I can get this." Daiki nodded.

"So the last day of what would turn out to be our relationship was everything. She was frigid the entire freaking time so I thought I would pull out all the stops. Dinner, a show, and a night under the stars. The only interest she seemed to have was to use my money just to go on a wild goose chase for aliens. Speaking of that, her idea of aliens is completely stupid. I know I'm going off on a bit of a tangent, but the only time she would do any talking is when she would talk about this sci-fi stuff. Aliens are interplanetary creatures, not cyborgs!"

_**Clearly, Masato is getting many things out of his system.**_

"I gave her my heart, my soul, my everything. I told her that I might not have believed in espers or time-travelers or that crazy stuff, but I would stick by Haruhi when she needed me. And do you know what she told me?" Daiki and Norio went cold. "I have no interest in normal humans!"

The two of them looked away from that statement. It doesn't sound that evil, but to take one's feelings and stomp all over them must have been painful. Especially since she practically undercut everything that made Masato and other boys interest.

"Wh-why would she say something like that? I couldn't believe what she said. Me? Normal? Hell no, I'm not normal at all. Who the hell can be considered normal? I was just so frustrated by this. It was like a bull goring you as you were walking down the street just for wearing red. I did absolutely nothing wrong! Why would she hate me!? I did not take it well at all. I was really thinking over what was wrong with me and it really strained me."

"Masato...I'm so sorry."

"And here's the kicker. Why would she be so mean to you? Just some guy who is willing to sacrifice a lot just to find love. Did you do anything wrong? No. It was offending to see her come back and try to destroy another important part of my life!"

_**Holy crap, this is intense. He's nearly gone through some of the same trauma such as me. Finally, I know another person who understands. Daiki and I are best friends, but our experiences with women are completely parallel. Girls are just magnetized to his masculinity. While I on the other hand have only cared for one. You have to walk a fine line whenever you are in that situation.**_

"You should have told us this stuff earlier." Daiki said.

"I know..." The guitarist looked down. "I was just too prideful. I thought I could suppress it since it was just simple school-based love. But god, I couldn't ignore it once she dragged you out of the band room."

"It must have been hard for you." The bassist interjected. "We need to have a band meeting soon and talk about this. And I can't stand to see us divided for so long."

"Agreed." Masato said, but then turning his sights to Norio. "Because of everything she did to me and to you, I want to see Haruhi go down like the Hindenburg. Who knows what kind of crap she's going to do unleashed like that. Asahina-san has to leave this class everyday just to be abused by her. You were a victim, but now you were turned into the bad guy. Do you still get hate mail from people because of the incident?"

"It's trickled down to one or two a day now. And no lewd comments said out loud." He answered.

"Just...do something."

"I guess I should. My metal brain was going to corrode because I've been racking my brain for so long."

"Listen, you should do something. Just...really think about this." Daiki pressured.

Masato said one last serious thing to Norio for the rest of period. "Don't forget the things that she did. These are the kinds of things that will eat away at your core. Because the next thing you know, bang. She's taken your thoughts away."

_**You make a compelling point. Thank you for reaching out to me...if only this would have been sooner. **_

* * *

Kyon was sitting in a state of heightened concentration. Whenever Haruhi wasn't present, the SOS clubroom felt rather empty. If Haruhi was there, there would always be that chance that something interesting would happen. Maybe not ethical or even legal, but some very interesting idea could pop up. Kyon would go to classes in a situation like this, but here he could relax and drink some of Mikuru's tea.

He took a long sip before eventually pulling out one of the laptops. Perhaps he could research some more information on web design. Haruhi would probably enjoy something practical like that.

_A day like this is hard to predict. It just makes me want to get this day over with so I'll know what will happen tomorrow. I don't know, maybe since I'm so used to Haruhi's musings, that it is hard for me to focus when she isn't here. Like when you have the television on to help you study, even if you aren't paying attention to it…background noise._

_Perhaps I should get a game to play or something. There are thousands of free online games for me to play right? I have to start doing my own things. I can't leave myself alone with my own thoughts forever, right? _

Kyon took another sip of tea to find that his cup was empty. He turned his head to see that Mikuru, in maid uniform, was thoroughly searching the cabinets. At least one advantage of today is that Kyon could talk to her without getting stared at.

"Hey, Asahina-san?"

"Yes?" She sweetly responded.

"May I have some more tea? If you are busy, I'll serve it myself."

She stuck her head out of the cabinet. "I'm sorry to say, but we are out."

"Really?" Kyon asked. "Can't we brew more?"

"We don't even appear to have any tea leaves."

_That's odd._

"Actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor today. Would you mind getting me a juice from the vending machine? Until we can get more tea of course…"

Mikuru said those words in a sweeter tone than usual. Kyon took a second to look at her but immediately stood from his chair.

_I missed that smile_.

Kyon walked out the door and towards the end of the hallway where the vending machines were located. He fished some money out of his pockets and looked over the selection of drinks to get for himself and Asahina-san. He didn't get much time to decide though as some strange force had pulled him into the Janitor's closet.

_Ahh, what the hell!?_

"Who dragged me in here?!" He shouted

"Shh…quiet down Kyon-kun."

The voice quickly went into action as a light bulb switch dangling above them was pulled. Kyon was surprised to see that the person who pulled him inside this dank room was none other than Asahina-san…from the future. He immediately pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose; did she have to talk to him this way? She was really putting bad situations in his head.

"It's good to see you again, Kyon-kun." Asahina-san (Big) smiled.

"Likewise." He groaned. "Is there a reason you pulled me in a closet?"

"I had to talk to you in a secure place." She got a bit closer to him, making him feel nervous. "Very secure."

"I guess you can't get more secure than this."

_Seriously? You picked here? Maybe if this were some perverted fantasy. Not that it's a horrible idea…_

"I know it's a bit sudden that we are talking here, but I was informed by my superiors to talk to you as soon as possible."

"What's that?"

"Be prepared Kyon-kun. Something really terrible is going to happen soon."

_No! Not an ominous evil coming over the horizon! Why does this have happen so often…I wonder if Asahina-san (big) will ever contact me to give me financial advice or how to avoid getting into deep trouble._

"What can you tell me about it?" Kyon asked, regaining his composure.

"This is classified information." She spoke, not saying in the cute sense where she put her finger by lip. "I cannot give you any information on what's going to happen or any hints. Even if I give you the slightest hint, I personally know that you would act out against this."

_I wish she could give me the rules of time travel. It's a shame that their sense of time travel can't seem to follow one of the various theories we have from the movies._

"It's that serious?"

"I'm afraid so." She placed her hands by her hips. "It's going to be hard but you really need to trust me. I know it's a contradiction that I'm telling you that something bad is going to happen. Something so bad that you can't interfere and I can't even tell you what it's going to be. I'm just telling you this so…you'll be ready."

Kyon was silent for a second. He thought that it would all be over after Koizumi gave him the good news. But he sighed, knowing that it was going to be like a roller coaster once again.

"Well…okay." It was all Kyon could say.

"I wish you the best Kyon." Asahina-san (big) stated.

Without warning, she pushed Kyon out of the closet and quickly closed the door. Bewildered, he opened the door to find the time traveler gone in an instant. It was such a weird moment whenever the more mature version of Asahina-san had appeared. He felt a bit more irritated than usual now. Just as the esper was giving him good news, he received bad news from a completely different party.

_Good grief. Everything has to be so complicated. Sometimes I wish the other members of the SOS Brigade were a bit more normal. Now my brain is wondering what the hell is going to happen? Is it involved with Haruhi or is this something with me? _

_Forget it. Just let it go on as usual. I can't allow myself to get wrapped up in these conspiracy theories._

Kyon walked back to the SOS Brigade club room, more confused than ever. It was hard to tell what was going to happen now. He even started to wonder if Mikuru actually had tea bags in the cabinet, and this was just a ruse. He sighed...at least school was almost over.

* * *

Later that night, Norio sat by himself on a bench not too far from the school. He curled himself in a ball due to the severe cold. He looked in every direction for the target. He checked the streets; he was in the right area. All he could do now was wait for everything to come together.

_**Okay, I'm here. I'm actually going to do this. Asakura, you better not be screwing with me.**_

_**Maybe things will work out okay if I go along with this. I'm being told that everything will be fine in the end. Things will get shaky but then I can forget about everything the SOS Brigade has done to me. To us…**_

_**Tsuruya, I pray this plan will not affect you in any way. I'm not being selfish; I'm doing this for everyone. For my band mates, for the other students of North High and to anymore of the poor souls that Haruhi have affected. I want you more than anything but there are just some things that can go unnoticed. **_

At that point, Norio heard the sounds of footsteps. Out from the shadows came one Nagato Yuki, looking the same as usual. He was completely on edge at this point, shocked by her calmness. She sat next to him without any additional movement.

"You are here." She stated factually.

"Yes."

"Did you receive all the information?"

"I did. The messages are still with me."

"And do you understand the terms of this agreement?"

Norio just wanted to get everything over with. "Yes. I'll go through with it."

At that moment, Yuki dropped a large paper bag in Norio's lap. A chill went through his body suspecting what was in there. He tried to peek inside, but Yuki immediately stopped him from doing so by grabbing it tightly. She curled the top and gave him additional instructions.

"Do not open this until you are back at your domicile. It is to not garner attention to yourself."

"Oh-okay."

"I will ask you again. Do you understand the terms of this agreement?"

"Don't make this harder than it is…" Norio said.

Yuki glanced her pupils over at the boy. His muscles were twitching at a fast pace, unsure of what was going to happen. He knew the risks of what was involved, but seemed devoted to the plan that the alien had suggested. She could easily see the stress was having an adverse effect towards the boy. She stood up, knowing that her work was done.

"I see." Yuki spoke, walking away.

"Wait." Norio said audibly. It didn't look like much, but Nagato now stood in place. "Tell me, why are you doing this? Is there something you want to talk to me about? Is there a reason why you want me to do this?"

At first, there was silence. But the singer could then tell she was serious, as he saw her tilt her head towards him. His entire time in the SOS Brigade, she never appeared to care about anything. She had shut the world off from herself. Today, however, she appeared to have sympathized for the kid who went through so much.

"This is the most efficient. If you obliged to the directions, I will do the rest. This is the best thing for all of us."

And with those words, Yuki walked back into the darkness to go back to her lone apartment. He was stunned…he didn't feel alone with his emotions. It was becoming too much. Norio went immediately to his house to look at the most important step of this plan in the face. Lucky for him, the rendezvous point was not far away from his house.

Norio stepped into his house and headed straight towards his room. He was all alone, but he felt like this monumental decision was something he had to hide from the world. He took a deep breath and gently folded the paper bag onto his bed, letting the contents spill out. His breathing became labored.

His gaze was dead set on the three items placed in front of him. The first item was a pair of leather gloves, that fit rather well on his hands and fingers. The second item, clearly, the most stressful of them all, was a plastic baggie containing a pistol. Norio picked up the final item, was a note containing all of the information of the weapon in front of him.

"Glock 19, semi-automatic with silencer attachment. Five bullets are located within the chamber. Under no circumstances, touch the equipment without the gloves on. Do not be sighted with the gun or else everything will be ruined. Take deep breath and fire from the back. The sound will not be well detected with silencer on. Fire with caution; take specific steps and calculations before using. You are allowed to wait until the right opportunity presents itself." He listed off.

At that point, Norio couldn't bear to look at the items any more. He placed them on the floor, near his dresser so he would not forget about them the next day. It was all too much for him. He knew he would have trouble sleeping, but it didn't stop him from lying in his comfortable bed.

Ideas flowed like a waterfall through his head. Every possible scenario played like a movie marathon in his head. From the best to the absolute worst. He couldn't take it anymore and began to violently cry into his pillow. The plan was intelligent, ethical, and would do great justice, but he didn't know if he could bear the price on his soul. Just before he could finally induce himself to sleep, he had one thing on his mind.

_**Tsuruya…**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

*Dramatic Music* Dun-dun-DUN!

I apologize for my disappearance, but I will come back with more chapters. Do expect more stuff to come very soon! And I assure to you guys that I will lay off Haruhi from this point. All the rage is going to cool down, so if that's aggravating you, it'll stop.

Thank you for reading and please review!


	12. Last

I promised my newest fan that I would get this done...and while I was late by 2 days, I still got it done. I finished it by the end of Spring Break! Hoorah! I think I get more stuff done when I'm on some sort of deadline. Compare the updating to this to my Lucky Star story...it's ridiculous.

This chapter was difficult to put together. I didn't realize how heavy it was until I wrote this. To those of you guys who have been questioning my drama choice, I feel like this chapter will really define it. Like I said, I majorly changed Chapter 11 from what I originally had, so I had to change a lot of the scenes. Inspiration is hard when you have a full set storyline you have to follow.

Please, feel free to tell me your personal feelings about this chapter. Enjoy. And I apologize in advance for my many uses of ellipses here.

**Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation (Tanigawa is writing the 10th Novel officially now, yay!) I only own the original characters that are included in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Last  
**

Norio tapped his fingers in a consistent pattern as he watched his homeroom teacher try to explain physics. While he carried on in his lecture, some of the students had relatively no interest in the topic. Some were more focused on getting to lunch, some were tired of hearing about the same topic for over a week, and others had plans that involved getting out of this annoying classroom. Norio slowly eyed over various parts of the room: the clock, some of the students, the teacher, and finally his bag.

He didn't even notice the time, but once the bell rang it shook him dead to his core. He immediately stood up while others were slowly getting up to stretch or walk to the cafeteria. Norio had to relax as he took a quick breather before grabbing his bag. After all, his nerves needed to be as calm as humanly possible on this day.

The day that he would finally go through with the plan.

_**Just get a juice. A nice juice will calm you down.**_

Norio mumbled to himself as he walked down the hallway. Everything felt like it had it's eyes on him. Almost like they knew about what happened between himself and Yuki. The singer kept everything to himself though, for a whole week. It would be crazy to go through with a plan of this magnitude when the iron was still hot. Even if he could be proved innocent, everyone would literarily have their eyes on Norio.

_**I'm going to do this. I've been thinking about this all week and I just…I have to. I can't keep up this farce anymore. I won't be in the SOS Brigade anymore. Even if I could be with Tsuruya for a few more days, I just can't take it anymore.**_

_**The SOS Brigade is sucking the soul out of the school. It didn't destroy, but it definitely damaged my band and it clearly has affected the members in it. Even if Nagato didn't say anything, she had a problem with Haruhi. Why else would she help me with this plan? **_

_**There's something fishy, but I honestly don't care anymore at this point. Kyon and Koizumi are stuck in that brigade and they aren't going to leave. Why? They won't tell me. Perhaps Haruhi has some royal dirt on them, like the information she knows on Wrathchild. Seriously, why does she have this…gravitational pull?**_

_**Mikuru refuses to tell me why she's around her. And Tsuruya even said that she would not leave the Brigade. What is going on! If someone is going to stop this Brigade from poisoning the students…it needs to be me. I've suffered head on from the pain of them before, and what's crazy enough is that I'm not the only one. **_

_**I can't let the kind of trauma that I experienced pass on to anyone else! I need to stop her! All I need…is something to calm me down.**_

Norio felt relieved finally reaching a vending machine. He looked over his selections; perhaps he'd get two cans to stay focused on his mission. But just as he was about to put some yen into the machine, he was stopped…by a flying tackle.

"Nori-kun!" Tsuruya shouted, being the perpetrator.

_**What the hell?**_

In that short moment, Norio's perspective shifted. One minute he was staring at a drink dispenser, pondering about his own morality, but now he was pressed against a wall by his the object of his affections. The singer's eyes bugged out, as at any normal moment he would have loved to be touched by Tsuruya. He slowly turned his head to the smiling girl, trying as hard as he could to make his own smile.

"H-h-hey Tsuruya."

Tsuruya backed off, looking at her friend. "How have you been Nori-kun? Getting a drink for lunch?"

"Uh, yeah." Norio said. He glanced at his machine, noting that his money was actually in the machine. With his shaky hand, he hit the apple juice button causing a can to come down. He immediately took the initiative to pop it open and drink some of it down.

"Are you feeling better since last week? I know that colds can last for awhile."

"Yeah, I'm fine now." He nodded.

"So, you won't mind if I take a sip!" Tsuruya shouted.

Without warning, the green-haired girl swiped the can from Norio's hand. He was stuck in a daze as he watched her take her own swig. She took a relaxing breath after drinking the stolen juice.

"Ah, refreshing nyoro~" She said, gently giving the can back.

_**What is she doing? Wh-why does she have to do this to me now? Is she toying with me? Did she honestly have to hug me and drink my juice just as I got it? I don't need any more stress! She doesn't know what I'm going through. Well, thank god that she doesn't. The last thing I would ever want is if Tsuruya were to learn about this insidious plan.**_

_**That's right…I can't ever let her know about this. I have to pray that she never even figures any of this out. Even when the deed is done…speculation will happen. Tsuruya has to trust me, she just has to! Or else this would of all been for nothing! But then again…this could be the last time I'm ever truly happy with Tsuruya. I can't focus on the negatives now. I have to treasure every little moment with the perfect woman. **_

"Tsuruya…" Norio said. "I have been thinking a lot about something."

"Oh? What's that?" She softly replied.

"I was wrong for what happened last week." He said. He took another long drink from his juice. The indirect kiss would motivate him to get through the conversation.

"Oh, that's fine!" Tsuruya boomed. "I've practically forgotten all about it! Everything's fine, there's no need to worry, Nori-kun."

"Not that part," Norio paused. "It was what I said about the SOS Brigade."

"Oh yes, that part." Tsuruya reflected on. She placed her fingers by the temple on her large forehead.

"I think it was wrong for me to try to convince you…to leave." Norio said, looking away.

"Really?" She said.

"Yeah, I think I was just talking to you out of hurt to leave the brigade."

"Oh, you shouldn't have to worry about my safety."

Norio was hoping she wouldn't respond like that. "Tsuruya." He took his time to look back into her eyes. "You love the SOS Brigade. Even if I don't like them, I really shouldn't have tried to pull you out just because I wanted to."

"Hahahaha!" Tsuruya laughed. "That's so kind of you! I can't believe you were so wrapped up over all of that!"

"It was a hard time…"

_**If only I were more like you…happy about everything.**_

"It's fine, it's fine." She said. Her laughing stopped as she looked at him with a serious smile. "I understand."

Norio's breathing started to become heavy. His heart was accelerating like it was filled with amphetamines.

_**Tsuruya, you know just how to hit me. I'm glad that you can sympathize with me.**_ _** I-I love you more than anything more in this world. Damn it, I can't take it anymore!**_

The singer finally decided to move forward, with emotions overflowing his nervous system. He extended his arms, using them to immediately hug the girl he truly loved. Tsuruya was now surprised, as Norio's strong, but tender embrace started to heat up her own body. She was starting to blush…she felt a bit relieved that Norio couldn't see her crimson face. Norio whispered one last thing into her ear.

"You have really helped me get through everything."

The troubled teenager quickly grabbed his bag and walked off to the music room. Tsuruya, in a rare moment, was feeling uncomfortable. She slowly turned her head to see her friend walk away like it was usual day. His pace seemed normal compared to the sluggish movements he was moving at earlier that day. Once the luscious, green hair was out of his eyesight, Norio covered his head.

_**As great as that opportunity was…I couldn't say "I Love You." If this plan failed, what kind of man would I be to leave that burden on Tsuruya's head?**_

* * *

A floor below, Kyon thought to himself as he pulled his bento out of his book bag. Kyon had been wondering, as usual, about what to do in this particular situation with Haruhi. She had returned plenty of days ago, but Kyon needed some courage to talk to her. He hated when Koizumi was right…things weren't going to go back to the way they were until he talked to her. The SOS Brigade room felt far too quiet.

_You can do this…you practiced this over in your head._

_She's not too far away, just talk to her casually. Wait, is talking with Haruhi ever casual? Maybe it was once or twice in the beginning. I appeared too false last time. Perhaps for just a few minutes, I can stop thinking. Just address her like a regular person._

_Boy, that's going to be tough. _

Kyon took a slow walk to the clubroom. Haruhi would always spend her free time in there for official or non-official business. He kind of found it interesting, it was actually very fortunate that she had a clubroom to be productive in, even if she was in a brooding or cheerful mood. During times like this, Yuki acted more like a decoration than anything. Around the time he reached the doorknob, he took another sigh. Kyon walked inside, ready to do his sworn duty.

Haruhi, sitting at her computer, took a glance at her subordinate. She leaned her head down and started to speak.

"Come to eat lunch?" She said with a bored tone.

"Yeah."

"That's fine." She shrugged.

_I feel a bit silly for being so concerned. Why didn't I do this sooner? Probably would of saved me some time. I'm a little surprised that all of my supernatural incidents have been so sporadic. The hardest part actually feels like the little blasé activities I have to do with everyone else. When things are relaxed, they are just as tense as when stuff is flying across the room. _

…_Damn. I just learned another thing that I really wish I hadn't._

Kyon slowly ate his bento as he kept his eyes peeled on Haruhi. She just still looked a bit over her computer with the same stilted expression on her face. The singularity didn't look depressed or angry, just uncomfortable for the most part. Kyon was feeling increasingly more concerned as he was trying to find an opportunity to speak. He took a few glances at Nagato too, hoping she would give a non-vocal suggestion his way. He then came to the end of his rope, as his bento was now completely empty.

He took a hard swallow and decided to speak up.

"Haruhi." Kyon said.

"Kyon." She automatically responded. "Something has been picking at my mind for a bit."

Kyon blinked. _Something interesting has occurred._ "What's that?"

"I don't think I've ever thought about what the school thinks about me."

"You never cared about what the rest of the students thought?" Kyon asked, feigning interest

_I paid attention to some of the theories and statements made about the SOS Brigade, but they were all lies for the most part. People would always say the weirdest things about us, like Nagato being a mute or me staying around in the brigade because of Mikuru. Though I think if I were on the sidelines it would be hard for me to swallow everything._

…_Today is definitely a day of revelation._

"I didn't." Haruhi openly said. "I believed that even if everyone else didn't like me or the Brigade, it wouldn't matter. We could defeat and overcome any obstacle before us! Then I realized that when we need to get things done, we always have to fight to get what we want."

_To get what you want, but continue._

"But when I reflected on all of the things we've done, it has been really difficult to get them organized. From when we formed a baseball team to the time the Student Council President tried to terminate us. The more I reflected on it, the more I realized that I never handled any of these situations in a different way. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I couldn't believe it didn't hit me until now!"

"What's that?"

"That Norio was the only person to join the SOS Brigade in months! And he was only here because he was attracted to Tsuruya, someone who isn't even a full-fledged member! I should get around to promoting her or something though…"

_That's a great way to start things. Promote Tsuruya, give some more care to Asahina-san…and maybe you could toss some more respect towards a certain someone's direction. _

"Anyway, that guy is out of our hair forever, but he did teach me something important. He taught me about loyalty."

Kyon took a stare at Haruhi from the statement. His eyes then shifted to Yuki, who had the slightest head shift from her book to her brigade chief.

"Loyalty?"

"Kyon," Haruhi bluntly said. She stood quickly from her chair, doing a fast spin and facing the window. Her hands locked behind her back, making Kyon very curious about what she was going to say. He couldn't see it, but Haruhi formed a pouting mouth. It was going to be hard to say it, but it needed to be addressed. "I don't remember saying this, but, I'm very thankful…"

At that moment, the door opened with a very loud creak. Haruhi made a sudden spin in that direction, as the noise completely derailed her train of thought. Itsuki and Mikuru walked into the room looking quite confident of themselves. Kyon took a frustrated dive into his palm and Yuki now directed all of her attention to her book.

_You two say to be on opposing forces, but I can't help but wonder if Koizumi is using time-travel to his advantage._

"Ah, that was a great lunch…" Koizumi contently sighed.

"Errahh," A flustered Haruhi spoke. "What took you guys so long?"

"We apologize Suzumiya-san," Mikuru bowed. "Tsuruya-san wanted to talk to us about some personal things while we were on our break. Sorry we took so long."

_Actual personal things? Well, this time I could ask her something instead of just relying on blind faith._

Haruhi's confused expression soon turned to mischievous grin. This was the perfect opportunity to put her newly found lessons into effect. She made a grandiose point at Mikuru

"Mikuru-chan!" She shouted.

"Y-yes?" She squeaked.

"Tell me, do you love the SOS Brigade?"

Mikuru looked down for a second, looking at her normal guy friend for support. His face was also surprised. _Just say something! You know how to act positive under pressure, Asahina-san! I know you can!_

"I love the SOS Brigade!" She shouted, almost out of instinct.

"Do you really love it!"

"I do!"

"Do you really love it with all of your heart?" Haruhi shouted, as she bashed her hand against the table.

The loud shaking against the furniture had startled Mikuru. She looked around in a panic, unsure if this was serious or just a trap leading to something else. There was a brief pause of silence, as Mikuru started to feel more and more concerned over the situation. It didn't help that Haruhi was leaning in on the desk…waiting for an answer to escape from her lips. After a few seconds of thinking.

"Well…I don't know if I do," Mikuru spoke honestly, feeling a tear come from eyes. "With all of my heart…"

Haruhi's grinned turned into a million-watt smile, much to Kyon's surprise. Her expression stayed the same, but she turned to Yuki.

_This is different. Creepy, but different. Intriguing, but different. Really good, but different. Looks like a new sun is rising above us. _

"Yuki! Do you love The SOS Brigade!"

"Yes." She spoke quickly in her typical monotone.

"Will you do anything for the SOS Brigade!"

"I will oblige to any request to benefit the purpose of this club."

Haruhi felt completely invigorated from that response. That's what she truly needed; she needed to really know what her brigade members were really feeling. Positive or negative, she wanted to get them more involved. They were acquired for their own personal talents, after all. She sat herself down directly in front of her chair. With lightning speed, she pulled out her keyboard and opened up a blank document.

"Alright SOS Brigade, listen up! Today's mission will be to revitalize the spirit of this club! That means that all four of you are to give me every single idea that you are thinking of at the moment! Whether it's about me, the school, or what plans you think we can do to improve our standing in the world, I want to hear it! Once you give me all of your ideas, we can return the SOS Brigade back to its true purpose! Tell me everything you need to know, while I still have 10,000 yen in my pocket!" Haruhi shouted to the heavens.

"An excellent idea, Suzumiya-san!" Koizumi exclaimed.

Kyon smirked to himself.

_Well, if we are being honest for once, then yeah, I will take part in the festivities. Haruhi, this is a great day for you. I think you'll be very happy to hear about what we can do for you. _

_

* * *

_

After a long brainstorming session with the SOS Brigade, Haruhi felt confident looking at her list of ideas on the computer screen. Even looking halfway through the ideas, her smile grew and extended from ear to ear. This was exactly the kind of thing she needed to get out of her rut. She was the leader of the SOS Brigade, but she needed to listen to the others once in a while. After all, that's why they were brought here.

Haruhi packed up her bags and jumped out of the door of the clubhouse. With her newly acquired funds and inspiration coursing through her veins, she couldn't wait to get home and get started on her next set of projects. The SOS Brigade would be occupied for weeks with the new plans. Haruhi had to just calculate and calibrate everything to its exact measure. She had to figure out many of the schedules of North High and Nishinomiya.

It was all coming nicely together. She was getting really excited…maybe a bit too excited. She halted at the bathroom door and bolted in. Her house was too far away to hold it in during the entire walk. Once inside, she slowly observed the stalls to find only one other person in the bathroom. She simply ignored it, going to the first lavatory she saw.

But she shouldn't have…because Norio was in the stall next to her.

_**Is that her? I was told that this is where everything would happen. It's small, it's concealing…no, it can't be this coincidental. Nagato's note stated that I could wait weeks before this could happen. Only one way to find out.**_

Norio started tapping his feet in a certain rhythm, like he had a catchy, popular, opening theme song trapped in his head. Knocking on the door could result in direct confrontation, and talking was just plain out of the question. He made noise in an erratic pattern, making a strange rhythm but with a slight amount of consistency. Without warning, a loud stomp came from the other stall.

"Oi! Keep it in your head!" Haruhi shouted.

Norio halted instantly. He couldn't believe that Yuki was right. What was she, a psychic?

_**She's here, she's here, oh god, she's here. Why is everything that I'm being told coming true! Is this predestination?**_

…_**Maybe it is. Am I supposed to this? Am I a part of some type of bigger cause here? Is Haruhi going to age into some type of evil menace? Forces have to be going on here…but should I question them?**_

_**The only thing I know exactly is that Haruhi is that evil one here. My bandmates will always accept me. Tsuruya will always accept me. Is it worth questioning the unknown when I can just address the problem that's right in front of my face? Maybe I can try talking to Nagato about this issue…but she's always with Haruhi.**_

_**How will I get another chance like this? How long is a men's bathroom going to stay closed for this long? Even if Yuki knows everything…she doesn't act. Perhaps she can't. Maybe she also knows about the truth about Haruhi but doesn't want to speak it out. She could be attacked or worse. The SOS Brigade has to have some type of evil conspiracy going on within the walls. **_

_**But none of them are going to stop it…leaving all the responsibility to me.**_

Norio took a hard swallow as the steps ran through his head. The moment seemed too good to be true. He had to act on it with the utmost caution. He didn't know whether Haruhi would make a quick, simple movement…blowing everything. He stood out of the stall to follow through with the plan.

He followed every direction from the note still stuck in his bag. To add onto the atmosphere, Norio turned on the sink for a few seconds to let the water run. Once he turned it off, he slowly walked to the paper dispenser to pull the lever. Every single sound emitted sounded exactly like the normal, bathroom banter one would here. Norio finished the step by opening the door and closing it…but staying inside the bathroom. He pressed his body against the artificial wall near the door that kept his face out of view.

_**Get ready, Norio. Get ready now.**_

The teenager could feel his heart trying to break out of his chest. Each passing second felt like a fight with cardiac arrest. His shaking hand reached into his book bag. He closed his eyes once his fingers touched against cold steel. He pulled out his weapon…unsure, but ready to fire. However, it didn't take him long for his hand to shake from the overwhelming pressure. Like, he could feel giant eyes watch over him as he performed all of this.

He nearly yipped as Haruhi walked out of stall to use the sink. This was it…the next to last step before he had to strike. Each glance he took at the girl made his throat tighten.

_**You could back away now…the door is right there. You don't have to put this on your conscience. **_

Norio took the risk of taking a long gaze at Haruhi. Just looking at her smile as she washed her hands made him feel uneasy. His rage began to seethe just from looking at her. Everything that had happened…everything that could happen…he cocked the barrel. Haruhi simply walked towards the paper dispenser, seconds away from finishing her bathroom ritual.

_**She's right there. She can finally pay. **_

With shaky aim, Norio aimed the gun right at her back. He looked down the barrel of the silencer to make sure that he wouldn't miss. His index finger slowly engulfed the trigger. The only for left for him to do was just…pull. He clenched his teeth and just looked at her harder, but he still had trouble pressing the gun.

_**Just, squeeze the trigger. Just shoot! Stop thinking…shoot her damn it! It's not that hard! Do it! Do it now! Fire!**_

Norio's head screamed with vigor. His body has trouble responding to the cruel actions his brain demanded. He came too far now to ignore this moment. It had to be done…for everyone. He couldn't bear to watch. Norio moved his head to the side so the wall would shield him from seeing the wretched side that he know he would see.

He pulled the trigger…it sounded very…quiet. It didn't sound anything more than like snap pop bashing against the ground. Norio was stunned. That was it? All that for such…little reaction?

But he should of known about the true sounds he would hear…

"ACCCCCCKKKKK!" Haruhi screeched.

Norio panicked from the sound her moaning. He pressed against the trigger two more times. That popping was nothing compared to the noise of the girl who slowly felt her life slipping away. Norio couldn't look at her directly…he wasn't sure what to expect. Sure, the normal brutal image wasn't uncommon to his eyes, but when it's only a few meters away…

He had to look for some type of confirmation. The singer tried to look at her in the best, non-mental scaring way he could. He looked at her from the bottom of the plastic wall, separating the two. A convulsing body withered around the ground across a pool of blood. That was all he needed to see. Norio concealed his weapon within his backpack and walked out the door.

Now was the second hardest part of the mission…keeping composure. Norio tried as hard as he could to calmly walk down the stairs and out of the school. His hands and arms covered his head as if he were trying to his face away from sunlight. He was lucky enough that most of the students from North High were already gone for the day. When he reached outside, he looked from one direction to the next.

Nothing…nobody. Not a single soul to claim witness or to show interest. Norio even peaked up at the sky to soothe his mental wounds. No person in the window, no person on the roof…everything was safe. Norio couldn't bear to look at any part of his body. He dug his hands deep within the pockets of his pants and slowly walked home. His faced focused on the ground at the laser.

_**That's it. She's gone. All I have to do now is just…get home.**_

_**Maybe a shower can burn away all my sins. **_

Norio didn't want anyone to look at the guilt within his eyes.

* * *

"Stupid detention…"

Masato grumbled as he walked out of the room. Due to his sliding grades, he was required to spend extra time at the end of class to study. He felt irritated that someone like him was pushed around for a simple letter grade drop. He was still passing, which is still better than a few other people hanging around the school.

He wanted the day to be over with already, but stopped for a quick second. He found himself looking at the bathroom doors, regretting that he chugged an energy drink to stay awake through detention. He stopped at the door on the left, but noticed that the boy's bathroom was closed. But the other bathroom he noticed was still opened. He looked from side to side and shrugged.

"Well, I guess nobody will see me." Masato shrugged as he walked in.

But as soon the guitarist entered that bathroom…his calm constitution shattered into thousands of pieces. He immediately walked out and shut the door. Could that really be what he thought he saw? No…it had to be some type of hallucination. This is Japan, these types of things are illegal, and it's in a school. However, he was oddly compelled to look once again. This time, he opened the door with intense caution.

Masato tiptoed into the girl's washroom to confirm the horror. He also pressed his back against the plastic wall to not be seen, in case an unknown figure was still lurking there. He turned his head slowly…but upon quick inspection he cocked his head back towards the wall. His breathing accelerated and his body slowly slid from the wall to the floor. Masato closed his eyes in anguish, feeling tears approaching. He couldn't believe what he saw…

The assaulted body of Suzumiya Haruhi.

"Oh my god." He slowly chanted to himself.

Masato was too afraid to turn his head again just to be sure. But there was no use denying it. Haruhi had three bullets implanted in her back, piercing right through the cloth of her school uniform. Blood…the blood coated in the walls, due to the intensity of the exit wounds. It particularly scared him that the amount of blood completely coated Haruhi's blouse and a decent amount still remained on the floor.

He couldn't tell if she was truly dead or still alive…but he was far too terrified to really learn truth. Only a few meters away, a destroy body was lying on the floor in her own blood. The image was starting to poison his mind, because the downward progression of the blood on the wall made it look like Haruhi had truly suffered.

"I wished this on her." Masato sobbed. "There's pain, there's revenge, but death? Murder?" He started to hyperventilate. "This is beyond what expected. And yet, this isn't a dream or anything! What the hell is going on with the school…" He muttered, shaking his head. But as he shook his head, he noticed a glimmer from a corner of the room.

The guitarist closed in on the glimmer, though he immediately wished he hadn't. It just made the situation even worse.

A bullet casing, no…three bullet casings were found by the walls. Masato looked at them worriedly, like another student was going to pop open the door and assume the worst. He covered his mouth as the puzzle pieces started to fall into place. Tears rolled from his eyes and onto his hands.

"No…he couldn't have."

Masato took a while to think about it; the cards stacked against his friend. Norio could have done it, but then again he couldn't have. Where would he even get a gun anyway? But it didn't matter, as the students would piece it together in tomorrow's paper. The abused target strikes back, but in a deadly way. It had only been a week or so since he talked with him…someone would remember.

He came to one simple conclusion. Masato gritted his teeth and wiped his tears away on his uniform. He took a quick peek out the bathroom door to make sure no one was walking through the halls. That was the only sign he needed. In a blink, Masato swiped the bullet casings from the floor and bolted out from the Ladies' Room. He was already praying that this action would keep his friend safe.

A few minutes after Masato fled the scene, Yuki walked out of the SOS Clubroom. No matter what had happened, every day felt like the same to her. She passed into that very same school bathroom like the students before her. She immediately came across Haruhi's body, which was still hard to classify as alive or deceased. Nagato looked down at the ground below and started to blink.

As horrifying as the scene was, Nagato wasn't affected. Human bodies don't disappear into thousands of tiny, dissolving shards like aliens do. Her eyes focused on every part of the mangled girl in front of her. The blood, the clothes, the bullet wounds…even the marks on the wall, this would be easy to handle. It made the idea of the rogue Asakura Ryoko even scarier…a member of the Integrated Data Time Entity would be the perfect assassin.

Yuki placed her hand on the ground causing the floor to be covered in a fuzzy, moving white and black shade. Any alien could do this, but Yuki's specialty in data manipulation would clear the room in seconds flat. The blood and fingerprints were removed from every inch of the bathroom tile. However, she had to keep a few marks on Suzumiya to keep up appearances. For the next step, Nagato placed her fingers on one of Haruhi's wounds. No visual effect covered Haruhi's body, but a stream of nanobots went through the victim's bullet holes. Yuki knew everything. Her power to control microscopic robots was one of her most valuable assets, because they could keep anything stable no matter what the circumstance was.

Yuki took one last sweep of the bathroom just to make sure nothing was out of place. Some of the slightest details could point the finger at Norio, or even herself just for being at the crime scene. Everything was scanned to the fullest detail. She walked out of the bathroom, confident that she had fulfilled her duties to the utmost capacity.

There was only one final step before everything was completely. Yuki had pulled a phone from her pocket. She had dialed a few keys before pressing the phone against her head.

"What is your emergency?" The voice said.

"Come to North High. There has been a homicide."

"What? Stay on the line, I'm sending the police!"

At that moment, Yuki sat on the floor and pulled a book from her pocket as she continued talking with the emergency phone service. There was nothing left for her to do now, but wait. She could hear sirens in the distance…

* * *

As I've said...feel free to say whatever you want. But, I do have some notes with this.

Did want to name this chapter over a Nine Inch Nails song...had trouble picking over "Burn" or "Last." And Last strikes me as more as a personal hatred, while Burn is more a global or societal. And for the record, no. I don't know what a person sounds like when they are shot. There's many variations of what happens to the person, but I feel like this works the best. The more technical stuff will be handled next chapter.

And as one last note, I wrote the scenes in the following order: First, Third, Fourth, and Second. If the third and second feel a bit too similar, that's why.

Thanks for Reading.


	13. The Broken

What's this, an update? Absolutely. While I haven't updated in a super long time, I never really gave up on this idea. I hit a bad snag while writing, especially piled with real life issues, college pressure, responsibilities, and learning a lot of dirty family secrets. I've wanted to do much more, especially because I still talk to Haruhi Fanfic writers everyday with such joy. It's hard when you write something like this that so depends on twisting and dramatic events, because when you get stuck, it's hard. But thanks to some dedicated friends and fans, I completed this (And it's been beta-proofed!)

I took a small break to write comedy, I want to do my own novel series at some point. Anime has left me a tad dulled, but I still draw inspiration from various sources to write this story. Please enjoy, for this will be completed.

******Disclaimer:** Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu was created by Nagaru Tanigawa and animated by Kyoto Animation. (Props to Tanigawa who added great new novels with new concepts which will be later acknowledged) I only own the original characters that are included in this story, who could potentially appear in other works

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Broken**

_Whenever you think of a teenager with a job, you have automatic thoughts bubbling around in your head. That person is working as a clerk, in fast food, at a department store, or uncommonly, with the family business. No matter what type of job that is though, it's met with reward. You get money, friends, good communication skills, or nice padding on that transcript. But what happens to a teenager who has a job at the level of say…a high-class government agent? Or some an ambassador per say?_

_I understand that I have to go through a lot for the world. Some teenagers are probably off worse than me or look at a smaller problem at similar "life-threatening" scale. But with how this is continuing on, it'd be great to get some benefits with all this. _

Kyon took his usual morning stroll to North High with the same types of ideas bouncing around in his head like a game of Pong. It felt like a never-ending cycle dealing with the responsibility he had on his shoulders. There days where he would be walking to school with total dread. On occasion, he would be thrilled to go to the club for Mikuru's smile, Yuki's support and, in a blue moon, Haruhi's eccentricities. That blue moon was very illuminated, as Kyon was feeling refreshed as he headed to school.

However, the fundamental flaw of dealing with the most powerful being in the universe, unquestionably, was the pressure. All of those flashing moments of peace and jovial feelings could be snatched away by the possible coincidence of the world resetting. Everything has been rather stable for a long time now, but with all of the situations that had happened to the SOS Brigade, there was always that chance. After all, it only takes a minor traffic jam for the psychopath in someone to take control. What happened over the last few weeks really walked that fine line of danger.

_Seriously, a lottery ticket, fast-forwarding the world so I'm not stuck in the rain, maybe even a bionic attachment or mental secret about Haruhi. Considering the cosmic level of everything, the level of politics is pretty harsh. It's like how Superman is so powerful, he has to be so cautious of his entire world around him. Well, wait, Superman is loved and is an icon. Maybe the situation is more like Spiderman, because he's strong too, but he has to maintain a secret because of how antagonizing his world is. It's bad enough that some newspaper mogul has to have some unfocused-rage-fueled grudge against him just for cash. _

Kyon parked his bicycle at the rack as he was just about done with his morning contemplation. He started to wonder if he should buy a mp3 player for those treks to school, to home and the subway. While he felt like everything was going to revert back to the status quo, he wanted to go to the SOS Clubroom right away to make sure everything was alright, with Mikuru making tea and Yuki in her corner. But as he reached the top floor of the main building, he noticed a rather peculiar item.

_Warning Tape?_

Just as he pondered that, an official came walking towards Kyon wearing mostly white.

"Sir, this is a closed off area." He addressed him.

"But I have club activities here."

"Sorry, but we'll have to ask you to go stay away from this floor. Your teachers and advisors will be telling you your new schedule while this area is blocked off."

_What happened here? Someone finally decide to do some vandalizing here? Along with this guy, I see…three others maybe? This can't be something big. Maybe someone lost it and did something to that broken men's bathroom. Man, I hope it isn't Haruhi…she's vandalized a school before._

_If this floor is out of commission, we'll still need to figure things out. Maybe I'll text around to see where the group will move. It's going to be somewhere like the gym or a different abandoned room. Guess this is going to be the type of day where I watch the world move along instead of look at it under a microscope._

Kyon walked back down to around Okabe-sensei's homeroom, which was luckily on a different floor. He glanced inside of the room, thinking about what was going on over the past few weeks. Taniguchi and Kunikida were conversing as usual around the windows, so Kyon knew where he would walk. But before he could step into the classroom, a grand multitude of a personality was rushing towards him.

"Kyon-kun!" A female voice yelled at him.

The normal teen turned ninety degrees to see Tsuruya dashing towards him.

_Tsuruya-san? What is it with the people I hang out with and their specific timing…_

Kyon was sure to back up a few steps so he would get pushed into the wall of the door. The green haired girl aimed her head into his stomach, causing to Kyon immediately clench up. He was having a difficult time keeping her steady. Lucky for him, not too many people were in the hallway to observe the spectacle. Once Kyon had her calmed down, he immediately had a chance to look at her. He recoiled a bit, seeing her face in a rare state of despair.

"Kyon-kun…"

"What is it, Tsuruya-san?"

"Something…unbelievably horrible has happened." She seeped.

The boy almost didn't know how to react. Tears made her face an unnatural red and puffy.

"Tsuruya-san…I know this will be hard, but you'll need to tell me what happened."

The green-haired girl pulled the confused boy down the stairs and outside of North High. She slowly went into detail of the horrors she witnessed by coming to school early, to see red and white lights flashing by the doors. Kyon's normal demeanor was beginning to feel more and more queasy as she would go into pause. Not like she would cause attention, but she had to take pauses to close her eyes and weep.

Once she regained back some of her injured composure, she completed the final chapter to her story. Kyon wasn't even there to witness what happened, but the image that started to form in his brain felt too unreal for him. The number of things that were possible in this universe had always crossed his mind. But what Tsuruya just explained had left him feeling very cold. His heart felt like it would break through his rip cage and dash away, but he wouldn't have the energy to get it back. He was physically and mentally speechless, like many of the darker parts of his high school adventure.

_You're joking. _

_No no no no no no_…_THAT cannot be real_. _Can I detect any façade on Tsuruya-san? Oh man, by the looks of her, those are far too many tears for it to be laughter._

* * *

Above the two students was a classroom full of students, all of whom were confused over what was exactly going on. Never have the students of North High had to encounter something so serious, filled with public servants from all around the Hyogo Prefecture. However, what was bizarre was that no one really had an idea to why the third floor was blocked off from the main school. Theories were already starting fly amongst what had happened.

"Did we get vandalized?"

"I heard that broken bathroom finally burst a pipe."

"There were guys wearing all white, what does that usually mean?"

"Maybe some weird gas leaked into the school from the chemistry or medical departments."

Ideas continued to flow out of the mouths of every student in that room. The only sad part of the situation was that only one person had a clear vision of what really had happened. The crazy thing was that even that one man, who knew what happened, was still confused over how the public found out about the event. No threats were made to his life, nothing was made specific yet. His eyes were completely attached to the large windows, peering over the number of vehicles crowded around the building. What was making him feel truly horrendous though, was watching the two members of the SOS Brigade, distraught.

_**Oh god…this is it. This is the sheer amount of attention that comes from a crime scene. I'm not even there and no one is even making suspicious yet, but man, I'm feeling like I'm suffocating. **_

_**I want to tell someone but, I can't! The slightest hint could give me away! If I go to the internet or my friends or a confessional, I can still be tracked down! Why did I listen to Nagato? Am I really supposed to believe that she has powers at hand that could cover me up? If she was so emotional, why couldn't she do something about Haruhi herself? **_

_**This is going to be a bumpy ride. No, that's too light. This is going to be like riding a bicycle, with busted tires through one of the circles of Hell. **_

"Norio?" Someone said.

Norio sharply turned his head, wondering who was going to behind him. His adrenaline gland slowly taking control of his muscles. He felt silly though, seeing his best friend right beside him.

"Oh, it's you Daiki." He said, with a sign of relief.

Daiki just chose to ignore his best friend's frightened attitude, dealing with enough problems over the last few weeks. "Are you doing alright?"

"No, not really."

"Why?"

"Why? Well, just look out there."

The bassist looked over the various areas of occupied scenery. It felt strange; Norio didn't usually have such interest towards the school, other than talking to people and helping the band mates. But he soon hit a realization, seeing two particular people locking arms in an outer corner of the building.

"Oh, it's Tsuruya-chan…" He commented.

"And she's crying!" Norio emoted. _**And it's from what I did! Why else would she be looking to Kyon for support!**_

"Think it's related to this weird stuff going on upstairs?"

"I don't think so; I really think it's something else." _**Please choose something else to talk about Daiki. I don't care what it is, but gossip is something I'd like to avoid. **_

"I bet your right." Daiki said matter-of-factly. "No one else is upset over this, but it makes me wonder if they school is missed something."

"They have enough people looking into it. It can't be anything important if people are still coming into school."

"You're probably right." The bassist sighed. "I know it's tough to see your girl crying about something, especially since I've never seen Tsuruya look sad or angry about anything. But, it's best to let her come to you when it's the right time."

"Yeah…" Norio took a small glance before focusing on his friend. "Thanks Daiki."

"No problem." He smirked for a second, wanting to ease the tension. "Now, don't confess your feelings to herbecause she's in a sensitive moment now…"

"I know for sure this isn't the right time." The singer chuckled.

_**I'll be able to talk to Tsuruya later. Logically…there's no way she could have learned about what happened, there's too much doubt going around the school. Everyone thinks it's something else and we are still in school. If this were really bad, we would be having news cameras and the school would be completely blocked off to the public. They have crime scene investigators here and they haven't even said anything, considering what happened. If I focus on the stress or listen to what everyone has to say, it's going to overwhelm me. Everything's fine for now… I just need to focus on something else. **_

_**I should be cherishing a moment like this where things are going my way. The hard part is over and no one is making assumptions. Considering how attached Koizumi was to Haruhi, he hasn't tried to attack me. Where is Nagato? What's going to happen to Kyon? Do I really need to worry since things are turning out okay? Perhaps Nagato is right…I'm thinking too much. Maybe Daiki and I can talk about something more crucial to me. **_

"Hey Daiki?" Norio asked.

"What?"

"Are Masato, Tetsu and Wrathchild doing okay after the whole incident? I've officially left that crazy club, I just needed to stabilize before talking to you guys."

The bassist stroked his goatee, as he pondered about the rest of his band. "Well, I haven't seen Masato at all today…but you know, I feel like enough time has passed for Wrathchild and Tetsu to be calmed down over everything that's happened."

"Really?" Norio asked.

"Yeah. This may come as a surprise for you, but I think that they kind of miss you being away for a week. Like, you were offended by them or that Haruhi lobotomized you and you were going to stay in the brigade despite what happened. It's always funny how the people with the hardest exteriors have the insides of goo."

An insidiously nervous chuckle over came the singer. "No…surprise?"

"They don't get depressed, the just channel that into wanting to punch something. You are the frontman of this band, yet it feels like I'm backbone."

"To be fair, that's how Maiden was." He quickly countered back.

"Touche."

Norio really wanted to get his mind off something, so he decided to take the first plan of action. "I should really get to apologizing to them, I'd do it now if they weren't in the music room already."

"Again, another thing you should realize, dumb dumb." Daiki grinned.

"Talk this over with Masato, let's all go to dinner somewhere, with me buying, and we'll talk it out."

_**That's it, just continue on with the day. Move your priorities, Norio. Earn the girl of your dreams and fame at say, a X Japan level.**_

A bing-bong type sound came from the speaker above the door, causing everyone on the class on edge to turn their heads. Without a beat, it quickly asked:

"Onizuka-Sensei?"

"Yes?" The teacher said.

"Could Yamada Norio come to the main office?" The voice said surprisingly plainly.

"Will do." The teacher nodded, trying not to make any assumptions. "Get to the main office Yamada."

"Yeah, sure." He muttered.

Norio tried his best to keep his mind blank as he took the ever-lasting walk outside of the classroom. His eyes had to stay focused in the direction he was going, like a doctor was examining him. The paranoia was rattling control of his psyche, putting an ever-growing emphasis on each step. He was so emotionally tied he just wanted to disappear.

_**Don't acknowledge them. It's a thousand daggers and one walking bullseye. **_

The tingling in Norio's spine didn't cease even as he reached the hallway. Pins were mentally pressing against his legs, for each listless hair on his calves. His instincts were screaming at him to run. Run out of school, away from everything, to a plane out of Japan, but he knew that would just paint him guilty. Each footstep on the linoleum floor or stone stair made his stomach tremble. He was only grateful that no one could judge him as he made his death walk.

_**You can't show fear, that's how they'll get you! But wait, being too calm and calculated is what makes those killers so memorable! Ahhhhhhhh, I hate myself! Someone inject me with morphine or something and calm me down!**_

_**Hold out hope for coincidence Norio…that's all it could be.**_

The student reached the very last floor with his joints moving like they were filled with cement. His movement towards the extra large glass barrier made him all the more cautious, as it led him closer to the school exits. It could be his last time to see North High in years if the odds were stacked enough against it. He opened the wooden door, to find something he absolutely didn't want, the principal and a man he's never seen before.

"Yamada-san? Norio Yamada-san?" The unknown man said.

"Y-yes?" He cautiously answered. Norio continued to act like his face was stiff. Even it was intimidating, the man seemed harmless enough. A rotund, about fifty-year-old man with suspenders…kind of similar to the principal himself.

"I'm Sergeant Detective Ooishi."

_**Oh hell…**_

"Ooishi-san has informed us that you may know something about what happened on the fourth floor bathrooms." He said, bizarrely calm.

"Really? Something's going on there?" Norio quickly retorted.

"May I?" The officer asked, leading the principal to give an understanding nod. He reached out for a specific black wallet from his back pocket, decorated in gold stars and embroidered lettering. "Let's take this conversation into my car."

"Feels a bit unnecessary."

"The faculty here told me you are in the music club. I have satellite radio, you know."

_**Going with him might be the better option…if he just blurts out what happens or gets physical, there's no escaping this. The gossip mill is already griding away, the least I can do is give it as little fuel as possible. **_

"Sure…" Norio wearily said, letting the policeman lead the way. The teenager started wrapping his finger around on of his hair tassels, though mentally he wanted to yank them clear off his head.

_**Sure, attack the person who embarrassed you in front of everyone. That's what you were taught! That's how you were raised! God, please just have a SWAT team waiting outside so I can get blown away instantly. It's already going to be a day of mourning.**_

Norio gently placed his fingers by his eyes, keeping the tears at bay. If a single drop would come out, an entire waterfall would soon follow. Officer Ooishi may have made a kind gesture, but the maroon car they were walking to, complete with tinted windows, was going to be his curtain call. It was a nonstop, downward spiral of confusion and depression from this day forward.

To cap off his final feelings, Norio could hear the school bell's wondrous chime before he stepped into the front seat. The old man continued to smile at him, but the boy knew what he was in for. He didn't know what was harder…keeping his emotions from running wild or keeping his body from completely going into cold shock.

_**Tsuruya…please don't hate me…live you're life…I'm going to do what I can to keep myself alive and sane.**_

* * *

Kyon was uncharacteristically responsive hearing every bitter detail from Tsuruya. He wanted to come here to help his friends who were far more devastated, but he could feel the pain as well. With all of the information and adventures he's been giving throughout the first year of high school…was this how it was all going to peak out? The subject of the entire world and someone he grew so fond too, becoming hospitalized?

He couldn't even say why he had to leave; perhaps it was morbidly hysterical Tsuruya next to him. The two were able to leave the high school for a short period, to visit their close friend. No one was certain of what happened, but the school officials could see the frustration. It was already strange enough for a police officer to appear at North High. As soon as they received the green light, Tsuruya requested her chauffeur to arrive as fast as he could. The waiting quickly became the hardest thing to bare before even reaching the hospital.

_Has everything I've gone through…is it just, worthless now? The singularity, God, or however you want to call it, can be gravely injured, just like me. That sense of entrapment that has affected Nagato, Asahina, and even Koizumi is now starting to frighten me. This is why people for centuries have feared ghosts and spirits. Unpredictable, unstoppable, supernatural forces with strange rules that control people's lives. Why, why oh why do they have to be real to someone like me?_

Even with Kyon's regularly perceptive attitude, he could hardly think straight. His razor sharp senses were dulled to the max as well, matching his brain. He felt cold…empty, unsure, emotions that only occurred when his life was in danger. He wasn't even sure how the world could continue on and why it didn't just collapse into itself. Kyon didn't have a word to say, after all, what could he? Tsuruya's sobbing was the only audible thing within meters and it felt like nothing he could say would stop her.

As the vehicle arrived, Kyon actually had to explain to the driver where to go, as Tsuruya was too distraught. The boy had little character in his voice; almost similar to a skeleton in a coffer that spews clouds of dust from its mouth. The drive was fast, yet eerily quite.

_This grey sky…it could turn, red and collapse in on itself at any moment. It could even turn neon blue, with giant amebic substances destroying buildings like nothing. I never realized why film directors like to film the sky out from windows, until now. As a regular limousine, they were tinted, but they are giving me this biggest sense of spine-tingling danger, Atmosphere can be so peaceful until you learn something terrible and drop your coffee mug to the floor. If what Tsuruya is saying is true, then…for once, I don't wanna think about this._

As soon as the two reached the hospital, a burst of adrenaline hit their senses. The two tried not to collide into each other as they reached the main doors, both being a little surprised how fast the other could move. Immediately as they stepped in, the approached the front desk, slammed their hands, and shouted:

"Where is Suzumiya Haruhi?"

The woman behind the counter immediately had a grimace on her face from hearing that name. She cautiously held up a goldenrod sheet of paper that was close by, color coded for its importance. Reading the recently added scribbled notes on the extra pages, she knew there was going to be some hard reactions from answering the question.

"I believe you'll find Miss Suzumiya on the third floor, Hallway D, Room 234 in the Emergency Ward. But you may not be able to enter."

_Emergency Ward _"Why not?" The two simultaneously inquired.

"The doctors have authority block you off from visiting her. Miss Suzumiya was in surgery for about three hours, according to our records.

"No…" Kyon, muttered, staring down at the floor.

Tsuruya was much more visibly and audibly upset. "No…" She shouted, as her legs gave weight and she slid on the floor. Her hair practically shrouded her body, as she covered her face and shouted. "I didn't know it would be this megas horrible! Why Haru-nyan!"

"Wha-what happened exactly?" The boy asked.

"She was brought in for profuse hemorrhaging from an abdominal rupture."

_Damn it, that's so ambiguous! Hell, that could mean any form of harm was placed on Haruhi without notice! Why must everything in this world have to be so subtle and hidden? This is going to be another mystery, I know it's going to be, and yet this time, someone has to suffer. If the SOS Brigade is viewed as the number one most important thing in the universe by existential forces, why is it targeted for such violent actions?_

_Maybe it's like that movie says…some people just want to watch the world burn._

"Can you be more specific?" Kyon's composure felt like it was in chains, but he stayed reasonable.

"I'm not sure exactly." The woman said continuing to flip through her notes. "Suzumiya came in for an appendectomy, but there were complications found during the procedure."

_Wait a minute; did she just say what I thought she just said?_

"Wait, that's all?"

"Is, is that good?" Tsuruya inquired, based on Kyon's reaction.

"The doctors can probably tell you more about your friend than I can." The receptionist honestly said. "Internal injuries can progress to something more serious if they are left untreated, but if you need confirmation, please head to elevators."

Kyon gave the woman a slow nod and quickly picked up Tsuruya from the ground. The two sprinted towards the elevators, wanting to reach the right floor and hallway in the fastest amount of time. Damning everyone else in the way, both students pressed the buttons to close the door and head up.

_Okay, okay appendectomies are common. I don't know anyone who's had one before, but I've seen shows where these do happen. Why does Haruhi even have an appendix in the first place? She's human, but it's established that it's a dead, pointless organ. It could be worse…could Haruhi get ulcers at this age? If Haruhi is that important to the world, especially with Nagato and Itsuki, why would she be so prone? Getting an organ removed isn't bad, but why is she of all people vulnerable to these things? She only didn't go to class if she were upset, unlike how the others get really sick._

_How is it that she was made with all of these powers, yet she was given all of these mental and physical deficiencies? I was blessed that my family did not to go through any illness-related trauma. Granted, if she were aware, she'd probably be perfect in every way and that could be catastrophic. I knew that girl throughout middle school. _

Kyon's thought process hit pause, just as the elevator ringed and the door opened. He could feel a gust of wind coming from behind him, as Tsuruya ran out. Her legs were tapping furiously, as she bobbed her head in the direction of the ceiling, trying some signal of the right hallway. With an agitated wave, Kyon perked up and began running with the green wisp. It didn't take long for nurses and some patients to watch on, as the two of them were moving so frantically.

_Out of shape, curse you lungs, you feel too heavy! How does Tsuruya move this fast? _

The two nearly skidded as they dashed down the correct hallway with Kyon's head coming rather close to a wall. Tsuruya loudly counted the numbers in an ascending order, wanting to see Haruhi so badly. She practically stopped on a dime when she reached on a right number, with Kyon almost comically crashing into her. Her already large eyes slowly expanded, as she could see her desired target, complete with the yellow headband on. She intensely shouted:

"Harunyan!"

Kyon looked dead for a slight second, as he prepared for the worst with a gradual angle turn of his neck. And she looked…fine.

The schoolgirl singularity shifted her head to the door, her expression beaming upon seeing two of her friends. Her body, her face, was completely calm. Her hands were relaxed behind her head, with her eyes previously directed at a television hung in the corner.

"Tsuruya-san, Kyon! Good to see you!" She greeted.

"Oh Harunyan!" Tsuruya said, taking the cue to stampede into her room.

Haruhi was preparing for contact, as Tsuruya's hair looked like a cape from the speed she was moving at. She still continued to grin, but she was a little bit off put by how upset the non-SOS Brigade member was looking. Thankfully for her, Tsuruya did lightly slow down, but still attached herself to the recovering patient.

"I was so worrieds about you!" She shouted.

"I imagine…but be gentle, I'm a little bit tender there." Haruhi lightly joked, as she wiggled in hope to get Tsuruya from off her stomach. Without warning, she looked with a bit of excitement to see Kyon still at the doorway. "Hey Kyon! Glad you came to visit! Come on in now! You know the Brigade Chief wants you to be here!"

He could hear her loud and clearly, but the only thing the true human could do at the moment, was scan his head across the entire hospital. Not one person was showing enough attention over the scenario. Almost with a sense of defeat, he twitched, heavily sighed, and took thousand-kilo steps into the white room. He dug his nails against his forehead and panted heavily, knowing that his psyche was bending by the fibers…

_Universe, this one cruel as hell joke. Seriously._

* * *

"Come inside." The older voice said.

In an area, particularly far away from North High, senses were high with the arrival of Yamada Norio and Officer Ooishi. The boy couldn't help but dart his head around different areas of the police station. Things looked rather…toned down than he expected, visually and actively. Many people were diligently focused on their work, or the routine, blue cops were laughing in the separated rooms. He didn't even see anyone behind particular cells or depressed criminals sitting on the short benches.

"This is what a police station is like…" Norio awed to himself.

"It's not glamorous, but it's the safest place in Hyogo." Ooishi reassured.

Not glamorous was a very appropriate definition. The fluorescent lighting made every flaw of the area stick out, from the lack of cleaning to the relatively old technology at each desk. The walls were a very pale blue, which made Norio's eyes hazy because of how the light mixed with the colors. It was a bit unsettling, like a decaying hospice. It appeared to get more uncomfortable, as Ooishi was leading him up a rather slanted set up of metal stairs. It appeared to be a bit cramped on the second floor, as there were two big closed, corner rooms and it had half the space of the first floor.

The two walked towards the right corner room, with Ooishi gracefully opening the door. Norio felt nervous as he looked down…it was purposely designed this way. A huge crowd could easily form up and watch every movement unfold, the only barrier being a rather simple, open black railing.

"Come inside."

Norio complied with the simple order, but felt chills walking into the small room. More florescent lights and one lone metal table, high off the ground with silver rails and a window, appropriate decorated with metal bars. He looked at the officer from the corner of his eye, who extended his arm and nodded offering him to sit on the chair; A regular, ordinary plastic chair that would be found at any school. As he instantly sat, Ooishi was quick to speak.

"You just sit tight right there. Would you like me to get you something?"

"Just water." Norio spoke.

After the abrupt shut, the teenage boy was left with the one thing he absolutely despised…complete silence. The room is bare-boned in every sense, practically a mirror of the main floor of the police station from top to bottom. It was made for isolation, Norio could tell by looking up and down at every note. But he felt really embarrassed as he looked in the northeast corner, seeing a white security camera looking directly at him, complete with a blinking red light.

_**Oh god, this is going to suck.**_

Outside of the interrogation room, Ooishi promptly did not go down to the break room to grab a water bottle from the machine. Instead, he walked into a room in the middle of the second hall. It was rather simple too, but more hospitable with a couch, desk, counter with a coffee machine and a lone TV. Unexpectedly, there were five policemen gathered around the one TV, which had Norio on video feed.

"How long are you leaving him in there, Ooishi-san?" A younger-looking detective asked.

"Ten minutes, Matsuda. You can learn a lot about the suspect's personality in that time frame, after all."

"This kid cannot be involved with the Suzumiya case." Another detective said.

"He looks so familiar to me…" Matsuda pondered out loud. "How'd we pick this student?"

"The rookie found a pretty good lead for this kid." The elder officer confirmed. "And if this were to take place in a school, especially considering the time of injury, it's hard to not think of a student or teacher."

"Did you notice that?" One man asked.

"What'd you see, Fukuoka?"

Everyone took a more direct look at their prime suspect; to see him twirling the iconic tassels of his hair. He was intentionally looking away from the camera too, clearly with his hands a bit unsteady.

"Ohohoho, this is going to be interesting."

"How long till we can inform the news?" The young cop assumed.

"Give it time, Matsuda. I guarantee you we can bust him on motive, if what the new guy says is correct. Better pray too, because I have a feeling the outside world will eat him alive." Ooishi said, with heavy concern.

* * *

"It's actually a pretty fascinating procedure." Haruhi concluded with her known-level of skittish-ness. "From the time they prep me up and put me under with the anesthesia, to when they've taken out the appendix and stitched me up, there's so much work to be done! Sure, it's probably the most common type of surgery, but the science and things you have to do to even complete this is so cool! And this saves people's lives!"

"Okay." Kyon said, surprisingly little of words.

_So this is the scary thing Asahina (Big) was warning me about? A surgical procedure that potentially has a five percent change of complications? Okay yes, it's scary, random and a tad unexpected for someone in Haruhi's condition, seriously? This is the horrible, indescribable action? Man, I'm starting to believe that this is, in some person's mind, a Machiavellian, Global-Level prank. The deck gets shuffled over and over, yet the same cards get drawn. _

_It's all becoming suspicion and deception and answers with hidden meanings. It encrypted for a reason, I get it and I'm a human amongst superheroes. Many of my situations could have gone much, much worse if there weren't some type of intervention. Even if it was performed by someone I would never expect, the whole process…it's almost becoming the regular for me._

"Oi, Kyon!" Haruhi shouted. "I talked a lot, but I thought you'd want to hear everything about the girl with stitches!" She tauntingly said.

"I was megas attentive the whole time, Harunyan!" Tsuruya said.

"Words like that will get you higher in the world, Tsuruya-san. Especially with the SOS Brigade gets it's rightful level of power."

While the two girls grinned, Kyon remained rather stone-faced. Every detail was explained, straight forward by Haruhi. It was about twenty minutes in length, but he didn't have a single urge to comment, think, or even let his body function take the slightest bit of control.

_And yet, how is it that I can never get used to this? No matter what happens within this adventure, it never seems to amaze me? It all exists, hell; it even breaks many of the conventions of how we view supernatural, scientific, and planetary tropes. I'm not an expert, yet I'm exposed and overloaded with information at every possible level, like getting blasted with gamma radiation. _

_Does that really matter if Haruhi can finally be injured? Nagato has her superiors and associates constantly breathing down her neck and Asahina has that sneering bastard and the mysterious hand of the higher-ups, which she doesn't even completely know. Even Koizumi of all people, has the duty of keeping Haruhi's emotions in check, and Closed Space is clearly a very dangerous and real place, as bizarre as it sounds. Even the close calls I've had…where do we go exactly from here._

"Well, I think it's pretty interesting."

"Heh, that's what you say whenever Okabe is having a special lecture."

_Sharp as ever…_

Tsuruya took a quick glance at Kyon, who was generally calm, but she could intuitively sense his distress. He did appear to understand Haruhi the most, even with how comfortably opposed they were, like fire and water. That actually gave her the best idea.

"I think I'll get us some freshments, nyoro. You two want anything specific?"

"Anything." Kyon said.

"Eh, get me whatever as long as it isn't soda. Doctors say I have to lay off it for a week, just not upset anything."

With a happy nod, she comfortably skipped out of the room. Once the green hair drifted out, Kyon could immediately feel the color draining physically and emotionally from the hospital room. What exactly was he going to talk to Haruhi about?

_You know, I could chalk this one exception up to just pure coincidence that while Haruhi is this singularity, she still a human filled with flaws. Goodness, we've all seen her attitude ones. But at what point, where this happens again, how do I know it's something to that I can simply let slide off my back? _

_I'm too young to deal with this. I'm almost wishing I was one of those characters who can read books within minutes or are medical geniuses from a young age, so I can have the slightest edge over reality. It's all unpredictable, it's all something that only Haruhi here could imagine with her views on the world and what the supernatural truly is…but at this point, it needs to stop for just one day._

"Hey Kyon." Haruhi plainly said, causing Kyon to perk up remove his fingers from his temples. "What's up? I know this is a lot to take in, but you know, it's not something to worry about."

"I've had a lot on my mind really." He admitted.

"Like what?"

"These past few weeks have been so, what's the right word…sticky."

"Come on, tell your Brigade Chief how you really feel." She said frankly.

"I could be here a while. Seriously, because of what happened just now and all of the stress we've dealt with for nearly a month? My brain is racked."

"Okay, now you have to tell me." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I told you everything."

"Where to start…" Kyon openly pondered, he was really unsure of how to honestly talk to Haruhi in this psychological sense. Whenever it happened, it was more of her exposing the tiny crack she has in her armor. This time, it was his sense of judgment that was being pulled at by bias.

Lucky for him, he didn't have to answer just quite yet, the door harshly opened.

"Kyon-kun!" Tsuruya shouted. "You need to come out here and see this!"

"Give me one second." Kyon nervously denounced.

_That was weird timing, but I'll take it._

The boy rushed out of the room, to see Tsuruya staring very heavily in Kyon's direction. She gave proper space across the hallway, with her back against the wall, barely holding the two water bottles she had. She was stunned, but not to the level of what she heard about Haruhi.

"Tsuruya-san, what's wrong?"

"Th-that…" The girl pointed to the door right next to Haruhi.

Kyon's pupils dilated for the second time today, taking a cold hard look at the door next to him. It was completely open, with some medical officials properly leaving the room. But on a closer inspection, the two normal students didn't have any idea of how the day could get so pulse pounding. They didn't have a moment to comprehend the coincidence, as the person in the other room spoke without warning.

"Ah, Kyon-kun, Tsuruya-san. How nice of you to visit."

_Koizumi…it has to be Koizumi in that bed. I think I'm going to have a nosebleed in advance to how insane today is going to be._

* * *

I hope you readers still enjoy this. I made a decision to split these two chapters into three, due to all the ideas and how I want all the pacing to be right. I don't want to overwhelm people with too much stuff happening in one chapter. You want there to be just enough. But with what happened in this chapter, there's a lot of interesting stuff to happen.

The song "The Broken" was one I wanted to use later, but I feel like it works great for this situation too because of Norio's sense of dreading. It's a great song for the Espers. Funny enough, it's by Coheed and Cambria, who make stories from their own songs for each album they do.

Please Review!


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